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by Saphrea
Summary: Five seconds before giving birth is one of the worst times to discover that your soul is pregnant.
1. Roman

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Times New Roman

Note: This story is in the same timeline as Remedy, so there are a few references back to it. I've had this idea for a while, and then I received a request for a Sans/Frisk family story, so here it is. I hope you enjoy!

…

Five seconds before giving birth is one of the worst times to discover that your soul is pregnant. It stands just slightly worse than finding out nine months before hand, because while you don't have to spend nine months worrying, you also don't get nine months to prepare. And it stands just slightly better than finding out five seconds after birth because with five seconds of warning, I at least had the presence of mind to catch the baby skeleton that came popping out of my soul.

I stared down at the tiny form in my hands, its eyes firmly closed and its mouth open to wail with an impressive set of non-existent lungs. Then I looked up at Sans, who appeared as shocked as I felt. Then I looked at the baby. Sans. Baby. Sans.

"What?" I asked stupidly. "What is…I mean…what do you mean pregnant?"

"well, not anymore," said Sans helpfully, sidling closer with his hands hovering under the child's head just in case I should drop it. The gesture reminded me that I had a very tiny person in my arms, and I moved it carefully until it was cradled in a much more secure position against my chest.

"Sans…" I said, my voice quivering. "I need explanations. Now."

"oh, I thought Tori went over the birds and bees with you," said Sans rubbing the back of his skull apologetically.

She had. In fact, she'd covered the birds and bees for both monsters and humans. Monsters had many different forms of child-birth depending on the magic and biology of the monster. While humans carried babies within their bodies, monsters carried them in their souls. Monsters were, after all, made of magic. This didn't always mean that there was no biology, though. Alphys and Undyne had produced an egg through soul bonding, while the royal guards had simply chosen a 'mother' to carry the child in his soul until it was ready to be born. As a member of the royal family, I got invited to all sorts of parties for the newborns and new parents. These things sort of came up in the conversation, whether I wanted them to or not.

But even in cases like Alphys and Undyne, the egg wasn't entirely necessary. They'd done it because it was easier and safer. Monsters were made out of magic, and so the babies were made from the combined magic and souls of their parents. This is why monsters were immortal until the birth of their children. Once a child was born, they would slowly siphon off their parent's magic until reaching full maturity, at which point the parents would die of old age. Because of this, no one had children unless they really, really wanted them. Besides, there was supposed to be an intense transfer of magical energy needed to make the 'soul seed' that the baby would grow from.

I was pretty sure I'd remember something like that.

Well…there were plenty of times when Sans transferred some of his magic into me. During our wedding we'd undergone a soul-boding ritual that allowed our souls to remain in tune with one another. I could feel his presence even from a short distance away, could sense his mood, and could even communicate on an emotional level in some cases. But even that should not have been enough to create a soul seed. I didn't have any magic in my soul, and it took two people. No matter how often Sans gave me his magic, my soul was still human.

Wait. Magic. In my soul.

Oh.

It had been centuries ago when the lab scientist monsters sacrificed their souls to let me live, to help free the Underground forever. I didn't have magic. But they did. And it was possible to gather enough over a long period of time to create a soul seed, but even so…

"You're a monster…and I'm human," I said.

"hi, human, I'm dad," said Sans. He saw my expression and backed away, hands held up defensively. Not that I could do much, as I was still holding a baby. The immensity of that thought made my knees go weak, and Sans was by my side to steady me in an instant. "…but the truth is, I'm not sure. this should be impossible."

That was not what I wanted to hear as I cradled new life to my chest.

"I need a guess," I said. "Anything."

Sans hummed in thought.

"it might have been my dad," he said. "he was always telling me how much he was looking forward to grandkids. I wouldn't put it past him to have…done something when he merged into your soul. you know, made it possible."

Gee, thanks grandpa.

Sans touched the baby's forehead and his hand glowed gently with blue magic. It settled down almost at once.

"What did you do?" I whispered, afraid of making it cry again.

"he's hungry," said Sans, eyes narrowed in concentration as he channeled power into the infant. I wasn't sure how Sans knew the baby was a boy, but at this point I wasn't going to question him. "c'mon, we need to go to the lab and run some tests. I want to know that he's healthy."

Sans pulled me—us!—through a shortcut into his lab. The baby sniffled at this, but quieted again as Sans gave it—him!—another magical transfusion. I sank into a chair, still holding the baby…my son. I had a son. This baby was my son…

That thought made me glad that I was already sitting down, because my legs certainly wouldn't have supported me any longer. I sat in a dazed, almost catatonic state while Sans fired up the instruments and gathered tools. When he looked over and saw my pole-axed expression, he stopped and gave me a long hug, pressing his teeth into my hair and rubbing my back to sooth me.

"We haven't even started talking about baby names," I said eventually.

"Roman," said Sans. When I looked at him in confusion, he laughed. "skeletons are named after their fonts. Papyrus speaks in Papyrus. I speak in Comic Sans. this little guy speaks in Times New Roman. so, since Times and New sound a little awkward, I figured Roman was our best bet. what do you think?"

Roman? Roman. I could see that. I could imagine calling Roman in for dinner and telling him to clean his room. I could imagine calling him Ro affectionately when he did something particularly cute. I could imagine Ambassador Roman being introduced at political events. Yeah, that was a good name.

"How do you know what font he uses?" I asked curiously. Sans shrugged. "Well, I like it."

Then Sans pulled away and carefully took Roman into his arms. He started running tests while I fidgeted nervously in the background. When my anxiety finally reached a boiling point, I excused myself from the lab and went to talk to Toriel.

Mom reacted as if I'd told her that her butterscotch cinnamon pie had won every single pie competition on the planet all at the same time. Absolutely expected, and yet still thrilling beyond words. While she hadn't known that I was pregnant, she knew I'd been looking into adoption and that it was only a matter of time before tiny feet were pattering through the small cottage Sans and I called home.

I _had_ been looking into adoption and the laws surrounding it, but I hadn't expected something quite so soon…or bony. How was I supposed to care for a baby monster? They fed off of magic from the soul, which I couldn't give. Would Sans be able to produce enough for the both of us? What did baby skeletons need?

Thankfully, Toriel had books and centuries worth of knowledge and experience. I was not the first person she'd walked through this process. When we'd finally exhausted all of my many worries and questions, and after offering all the baby-sitting help I could ever want, Toriel asked if she and Asgore could drop by tomorrow to see their new grandson.

"Yeah, Mom," I said, slightly giddy at the thought of Toriel holding Roman, my son. "You're going to love him."

Sans was lying on the couch with Roman draped over his chest when I arrived home. Both were fast asleep, but as I approached and reached out to touch his shoulder, Sans's hand shot up to catch my wrist. I met his blazing gaze, and for a moment I thought he was going to attack me. Then he seemed to recognize me and realize that I wasn't a threat. My lazy skeleton blinked sleepily at me, and used his hold on my wrist to pull me down and brush his teeth over my lips.

Well, no one would say he lacked for protective instincts.

Roman stirred and whimpered. Sans ran a magic-coated hand over his skull to sooth him.

"he missed you when you left," said Sans.

There was no accusation in his voice, but I felt a little ashamed anyway. What sort of parent panicked like that at the sight of their own child, unexpected as the child had been? I knelt down beside the couch and ran my fingers over Roman's smooth skull. He calmed at once, just as he had for Sans's magic. He knew me. I felt my soul grow warm and looked up to see Sans smiling, his body totally relaxed and his soul humming in tune with my own, content beyond words.

"Is he…I mean, how did the tests go?" I asked quietly.

"he's a happy and healthy baby skeleton," said Sans. "absolutely perfect."

Well, there was one fear that could be mostly put to rest. Now that I knew he was fine, I just had to keep him that way. No problem. No problem at all.

What the heck was I going to do?

"Can I hold him?" I asked, feeling another spike of nerves. What if I dropped him? What if I hurt him? What if I was a bad parent?

Sans did not seem concerned as he handed Roman to me. My son curled into my chest, touching a tiny boned hand to the space over my heart. I felt my soul beat in time with his. His and Sans's.

"he likes it best when we're both here," said Sans, though I would have known even if he hadn't said anything. Both of their souls radiated happiness that echoed my own.

He hadn't been expected, but Sans was right.

He was absolutely perfect.

…

Note: This was a small idea, but there isn't much of a story behind it yet. I may expand on it later if there is interest.


	2. Magic

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Magic

Note: This story is a go! Unfortunately, there are no gender-neutral titles for a parent. I decided that in the monster world, the 'Mom' is the person who carried the child in their soul and the 'Dad' is the other magic donor. So, Frisk is Mommy, but this doesn't necessarily correspond to their gender. They still use the they/them pronouns. It was a tough choice, but somehow 'Spawn parent' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

...

"I'm home!" I called out, shouldering the door open while trying not to drop the five bags I was carrying. Who needed multiple trips to get all of the groceries in? Not this person right here. I dropped the bags onto the kitchen counter and started to unload them.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted from the other room. "YOU ARE JUST IN TIME TO WITNESS THE GREAT PAPYRUS FIND THE LOCATION OF A VERY TINY, VERY SNEAKY SKELETON! I CAN FEEL HIS INEVITABLE DISCOVERY 'IN MY BONES'! NYEHEHEH."

I snagged a small bag of cookies and ambled into the living room where Papyrus was poised over the armchair with one finger at his teeth to shush me. I rolled my eyes and smiled, tiptoeing obligingly to stand next to him. Hide and seek was one of Roman's favorite games, and he was surprisingly good for being only two years old.

Finding him wasn't much of a challenge for me, as I could feel his soul dancing with mirth and excitement right behind the chair. But Sans and I always made a show of taking a long time to search for him before finally pouncing when the moment was right. Judging by the state of the living room, Papyrus has been led on a long and merry chase.

"AND NOW FOR THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!" Papyrus said, pulling a purple blanket from behind the chair. "I HAVE FOUND YOU! NYEHEHEH…EH?"

I could feel the problem immediately.

Roman was no longer behind the chair.

He was across the room, hiding behind the curtains.

"BUT-BUT I WAS…" Papyrus stammered, uncertain. He couldn't feel Roman's soul as I could, so it must have been doubly confusing for him. I was pretty shocked myself. Roman was barely a toddler. He shouldn't be able to teleport yet.

I tried to swallow my worry as I patted Papyrus's shoulder.

"It's alright, Papyrus," I said. "Let me use my special attack to find my little man, or should I say my little 'Roam-man'."

Papyrus groaned and I heard a quiet giggle from behind the curtain. The fabric jostled, and I kept an eye on it to see if I could sense the magical buildup for another teleport.

"YOU'RE AS BAD AS SANS," he complained, and I laughed.

"You're still smiling," I reminded him.

"I KNOW AND I HATE IT," said Papyrus.

My son was going to wind up with the 'pun'-iest sense of humor. Wow, I really was getting as bad as my husband. We would all embarrass Roman to tears when he was older. I grinned at the thought as I held up the bag of cookies. Now for my special attack.

"Well, if I don't find him soon, I'll just have to eat _all_ of these mini-mega-chocotastic cookies by myself," I said, shaking the bag so that the tell-tale sound of cookie-goodness could be heard.

With a gasp, Roman burst from behind the curtain, wide eyes zeroing in on the tasty treat with the surety of a homing missile.

"Cukies!" he shouted gleefully, running over to my side and reaching up pleadingly.

I felt my smile falter when I saw the blazing red light in his eye sockets. Roman's eyes were normally white pin-pricks just like Sans's, but now they were lit up with powerful magic. With Determination.

I forced the smile back into place, though it must have looked strained, because Roman's expression became confused and a little worried. He stopped reaching and gave me his best 'innocent look' just in case I was angry with him.

"Now, what are you supposed to say when you want something?" I asked, banishing my thoughts and focusing on my son instead, surreptitiously checking him for any signs of melting or injury caused by early use of magic. There were none. But the second he went down for a nap, I was calling Sans.

"Pweas!" Roman said excitedly, previous worries forgotten. "Pweas! Cukies pweas! Cukies pweas!"

"Now there's my polite little gentleman," I said, opening the bag and handing him a cookie.

"Two, pweas," he said, eyeing the bag hopefully for a second treat. "Pweas, Mommy."

"Did you put your toys away?" I asked. Roman looked around, shame-faced at the toys scattered all over the living room. "No? Well, if you put all of your toys in the toy box, you can have another cookie."

"Okay, Mommy!" said Roman, and he toddled off to gather up his things. Papyrus was standing behind me, looking uncertain.

"HUMAN, A PRIVATE WORD?" he asked. I nodded and followed him into the relative privacy of the den, not that it would make much difference with Papyrus's volume. "HOW LONG HAS ROMAN BEEN USING MAGIC?"

"This is the first I've seen it," I said, my gaze straying back to the door as Roman tripped over his own feet and face-planted into the carpet. He looked up at me, and I smiled at him encouragingly. He stood up and dusted himself off before getting back to his toy-gathering. "And Sans would have mentioned it if he'd seen anything. No, this is new."

The magic itself wasn't the only problem. He was using red magic. Determination. Determination was what had melted the amalgamates, and I didn't want to think about how little it would take to hurt my son.

"I SEE," said Papyrus. "HUMAN, IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU SPOKE WITH HIM. I FEAR THAT HE MAY HAVE USED IT SEVERAL TIMES ALREADY, BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST SLIPPING AWAY WHEN I TURNED MY BACK. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR AN UNTRAINED CHILD TO USE MAGIC UNSUPERVISED."

That was a bit of an understatement, especially with already-dangerous magic like teleportation. That in itself was a high-level ability with a chance of tearing the user apart if they weren't focused enough. But if he had used it several times already, how had he learned it? Could he really have picked it up just by observing Sans? My son was clever. I'd known this since he started running at seven months, spoke his first full sentence at eight months, and read his first picture book at nine months. Sans tracked his development carefully, though Roman was prone to regressing to a more childish state when he was excited, like at the sight of sweets. It hadn't even occurred to me that his mind and body weren't the only things developing too quickly.

"I'll talk with Sans, and we'll see what we can do," I said. "There are magical suppressants that might be safer. I don't think Roman will understand why his magic is dangerous. And even if he's a good kid, he will try something when he thinks we're not looking."

Roman was already showing an inclination toward jokes and pranks, like hiding my car keys to stop me from going to work or sneaking vegetables from his plate to Sans's when he thought his father was busy with the crossword. It would probably only take the blink of an eye before Roman was back to using magic if I forbade it.

"I SEE," said Papyrus. "I KNOW YOU WILL MAKE SURE THAT HE IS SAFE. DO YOU WANT ME TO STAY WITH YOU UNTIL SANS RETURNS HOME?"

I considered it.

"No, that's alright," I said. "You go home, Papyrus. And thank you for watching him. I'm going to call Sans now."

Papyrus left, and I went to check on Roman in the living room. He had already fallen asleep on the couch. A quick look around the room showed that all of the toys had been put away. Well, even if he shared his father's tendency to fall asleep while doing chores, at least he finished his first. He really was a good kid. I picked him up and carried him to his room and then headed back downstairs to call my husband.

Before I even hung up the phone, Sans was walking through the door to give me a hug and a kiss. He could feel the nervousness in my soul and soothed it with his own, though I could feel an echo of fear within him too. He was holding a scanner in one hand and a necklace in the other. The scanner was to detect how much magic and Determination Roman had, and the necklace was for suppressing the power if necessary.

At this point I was pretty sure it would be necessary.

Roman was not happy to be woken up, but he was quickly bribed with the cookie he'd earned for cleaning as well as the promise of an extra one if he sat still for his tests. Roman cheerfully munched on his cookies while Sans ran the scanner near his soul. I watched over Sans's shoulder, and I felt a wave of fear at those Determination levels. Roman possessed enough Determination to melt a normal monster, but the power was apparently stable in his body. Could it be because he was a hybrid? Would it grow stronger as he got older? How could we stop it?

Sans remained calm, his soul still soothing mine. Roman was watching me carefully, and I knew he could feel my fear too.

"Dunt be afwaid, Mommy," he said suddenly. "I dunt want you to be afwaid. I'll pwotet you, Mommy."

My heart melted and I leaned over to give him a hug. Protect. He was two years old and already offering to protect me. Papyrus used the word often when referring to his job as a Royal Guardsman, and Roman always looked up to him. I guess he took the proclamations to heart.

"I know you will," I said. "You know what you can do to protect me? It's a very special thing, and only you can do it."

Roman shook his head, his eyes wide and earnest and willing to do whatever I needed him to so that I wouldn't be afraid anymore.

He was getting more like his father every day.

"No, wat?" he asked.

I took the necklace from Sans. It was a golden four pointed star that looked like a save point. There were tiny runes carved into the edge. It would suppress his excess magical energy and Determination. I didn't like the idea of deliberately crippling my own child, but it would help keep him safe from his own rapid development.

"I want you to wear this," I said, holding up the necklace. His eyes brightened at the sight of it. He took the chain from me and slipped it over his head. His eyes began to droop at once. "Roman, I need you to listen. Do not ever take this necklace off. Do you understand? Never."

"Yes, Mommy," he yawned. "I wove you, Mommy. I wove you, Daddy."

"We love you too," I said, leaning over to kiss his skull. He yawned again, and his eyes slid closed. Sans reached up to catch him as he fell sideways.

"I'm sweepy," he said, his voice thick and exhausted.

I looked at Sans. His eyes were blank, and his soul was strangely unreadable. I took a steadying breath.

"I know," I said. "Why don't you go back to your nap?"

He was already asleep. I moved him under his covers and tucked him in securely before following Sans out of the room. Sans was rubbing the back of his head.

"he'll only get stronger," he said quietly. "even now, the necklace isn't enough to shut away his powers completely. he'll still be able to use magic, but at a much safer level. no more teleporting at least. but soon he'll reach a point where the Determination will poison his bones if he removes the necklace. if that happens…"

"He won't take the necklace off," I said with confidence I didn't feel. "We'll…we'll keep an eye on him and explain it when he's older. He's a smart kid. He'll understand."

Sans nodded and pulled me into a hug. Only then did I feel the terror in his soul beneath his calm façade.

"He'll be okay," I said, rubbing Sans's back and tracing the bumps of his spine. "He'll be okay. He'll be okay."

I wished that I could believe that.

…

To be continued...


	3. Present

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Chapter 3: Present

Note: This is slightly unseasonable, but I'll just call it Christmas in July.

…

I would have thought after one pregnancy that I would be able to spot the signs of a second. After all, I'd read all of the books, I'd experienced the signs firsthand, and I'd known that it was actually possible this time around. Besides that, Sans was also monitoring my soul carefully for any indications of new life. So, I should have had plenty of warning. Right?

Wrong.

It was Christmas Eve, and I was slogging my way through the snow with a bundle of carefully wrapped presents. Mom, Dad, and Papyrus would drop by in the morning for breakfast and the undoubtedly hectic opening of gifts. The larger community celebrations would be held at the castle, but everyone agreed that something small and homey would be better for our own private get-together. The house was all decked out in lights and wreaths and ornaments, mostly done by Papyrus, while Roman offered a hand with everything from the doorknobs down. It looked like something out of a seasonal magazine, and the gently falling snow was the icing on the proverbial ginger-bread house.

I climbed up the steps and kicked the snow from my boots before opening the door. Warmth and light spilled from the entrance, and I took a deep breath filled with the smell of spiced drinks and cookies. A quick look around revealed Sans dozing on the couch with Roman draped over his chest like a blanket. Their quiet snores were drowned out by the crackling of the fire, and I closed the door carefully before slipping away with the presents.

I hid them on the highest shelf in the closet, and only paused to take out one of the soft bundles. It was wrapped in red paper and topped with a blue bow. Roman had developed a love for red at some point in the past few months, and the result was that now his room was painted red with golden stars. Most of his gifts were wrapped in red paper, and many of the gifts themselves were red. Red clothes, red toys, red blankets, etc. I held this one thoughtfully before taking it back into the living room where my two skeletons were currently sleeping. Roman could do with an early present.

They were both such a picture of quiet peacefulness that I almost turned around and left them for the night, but Sans stirred at my approach, one eye cracking open and a sleepy smile spreading over his face. It was in these few unguarded moments between sleeping and waking where I could feel the purest emotions of his soul. The moments always faded quickly as Sans fully woke. The losses, resets, and deaths from the Underground had taken their toll, and he put up walls between himself and the world to protect against the harshness of life. But for those precious few seconds, I caught a glimpse of everything he sought so hard to protect. All of his warmth and all of his love.

I leaned over to give him a kiss, and he brushed his teeth against my lips. Roman woke then, a little more slowly, a little more lazily, to blink at me. Then his eyes lit up with joy, and he squeaked, sitting up and throwing his arms around my neck.

"You're back!" he shouted. "I thought you wouldn't make it in time."

And then I felt bad as I hugged him. I gave Sans a guilty look, but he only shrugged.

"I was getting ready to go hunt you down myself," he said, winking. "but it all worked out without me doing anything. and you know how much I enjoy doing nothing. I hope you're not feeling Claus-trophobic about the holidays."

I snorted.

"I'm sorry I'm late," I said. "The flight was delayed due to bad weather."

As an ambassador, I spent a fair amount of time on the road. It would have been so much easier if Sans could just teleport me there and back, but unfortunately, that's not how borders worked. Governments didn't like it when people popped in and out without going through pesky things like customs, and as a rule, Sans kept his teleporting to within the monster kingdom. Well, barring that one time…

Besides, there were all sorts of traditions and ceremonies around arrival and departure of diplomats, so it would be fairly difficult to slip off by teleporting out anyway. But it did leave me vulnerable to normal travel delays, and this one had almost cost me Christmas Eve with my family.

Well, maybe not. I wasn't entirely sure Sans was joking when he said he'd hunt me down.

I kissed Roman's skull and held up his present.

"I have a present for you," I said, waving it tantalizingly close. "Would you like to open it now?"

I may as well have asked him if he'd like a second helping of dessert from the way his eyes widened and sparkled with delight. He reached up quickly, but stopped before grabbing it and asked politely if he could have it. I laughed softly at his earnest plea and handed it over.

Sans sat up as Roman tore through the paper, sending it flying all over the floor. His grin widened as he held up the red fabric. It was a hoodie, just like Sans's, but it was a bright fire-engine red with gold lining. He gave a cry of joy and immediately pulled off his Christmas sweater. He put on the hoodie and ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

I sank down on the couch beside Sans, who leaned over and put an arm around me.

"I missed you," he said. "it's pretty bonely around here when you're gone for weeks at a time. you shouldn't leave us in the cold around the holidays."

And there was the guilt again. I rested my head against his shoulder and sighed. I was the human ambassador for all of monster kind. Technically, I could be called the heir to the throne as well, though I doubted I would ever become an actual monarch. There weren't really any replacements or understudies for my roles, and maintaining relationships and treaties with two hundred and seven other countries required a lot of time away from home.

Sometimes I almost wished I could toss my responsibilities to the wind.

Sometimes I almost wished I could go back to being a carefree child whose only goal was to make friends and give people hope.

Almost.

"I'm sorry," I said, and it was the truth.

"I know," said Sans. He squeezed me once. "you're home now, right? we'll just have to make the most of it before you fly off again."

Two and a half weeks until my meeting with the sultan of the Southern Isles to renegotiate an expiring trade agreement. The meetings would take the better part of four days and the ceremonies around them would take another three. Joy. I sighed and kissed him again.

"Maybe you could come with me," I said. Sans raised his brow, but I plowed on. "I have a family, and I don't get to see you as much as I want. I'll talk it out with Dad, and we'll make it a condition of my trips. You get a chance to come with me. You and Roman. It would be good for him to see a bit of the world."

Sans frowned, but it wasn't disapproval. He looked as though he were actually considering it carefully, thinking analytically about the risks and opportunities.

"it might be nice to keep an eye socket on you myself," he admitted. "no more worrying if something bad was going to happen…"

Like the riots during my trip to Mahi, where Sans had unceremoniously teleported into my hotel room and dragged me back home. That had caused a small uproar, and Dad had told him gently, but firmly, not to do it again. You know…without telling him first.

Diplomacy was a delicate beast, and Dad remembered all too well what humans could do.

"but Roman is too young," he said, sighing. "and the world beyond our borders is too dangerous. maybe…someday. but not yet."

I nodded. Still, I could bring it up with Dad over dinner tomorrow. I was sure he would understand, and few people denied a request from the King of Monsters if he set his mind to something. Monsters may have been weak against physical attacks, but their magic was strong, and it had made our kingdom both wealthy and powerful enough that we were acknowledged by everyone.

"Not yet," I agreed. "I guess we'll just have to make the most of the holidays while I'm here."

Roman came sprinting back into the room and turned around in place to show off his new hoodie.

"Isn't it cool?" he asked breathlessly. I laughed.

"the coolest," said Sans, and I nodded in agreement.

Roman climbed up into my lap and rested his head against my chest. It was a familiar gesture, and I could sense him reaching out to my soul. My soul felt warm at his presence, and I closed my eyes in contentment.

"I was wondering something," said Roman suddenly, as his soul's warmth resonated with my own. "Babies are named right after they're born, right?"

I looked at Sans in confusion, but he looked as mystified as I felt.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

Then I felt it pulse.

Huh?

That was odd. I blinked down at Roman, wondering if he'd done something. The only time I'd felt like that was right before he was born. The pulses had started, and I'd stumbled downstairs to where Sans was napping on the couch. I'd gasped as the pulses grew stronger, and that was when Sans gave me my five seconds of warning that I was pregnant.

That. I. Was. Pregnant.

"Well, since my sister's almost ready to come out, I was wondering what her name was going to be," said Roman matter-of-factly.

I felt another pulse, and Sans reached over to pull my soul from my chest. Sure enough, the bright red looked perfectly normal with no signs at all that another life was dwelling within. Sans narrowed his eyes in concentration, pushing a bit of magic into my soul, and only then did I see a small seed at the very center light up in response.

"I was ready to come out before she was," Roman continued proudly. "I've been waiting forever, but I'm glad she's going to make it in time for Christmas."

I gave Sans a panicked look as my soul pulsed again, more insistently. Sure, this wasn't quite as terrifying as it had been the first time. But still…

I took a deep breath as I felt the final pulse, and the life in my soul popped out and fell into my arms. I cradled her close out of instinct and practice as her body formed from red light into that of…a human baby?

I'd been expecting another skeleton. I looked back at Sans, then at Roman, then at the baby. Roman held up his discarded Christmas sweater, and I took it numbly before wrapping it around my new daughter. She sniffled at the sudden scratchy contact, but Sans and Roman were already reaching out with their magic to sooth her, and she quieted immediately.

Roman looked at me expectantly.

"So…what's her name?"

…

To be continued...

Note: Good question, Roman. Good question.


	4. Vivaldi

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Chapter 4: Vivaldi

Note: Soul twins are something I've made up for this story, both to explain the bond between Sans and Papyrus as well as the bond between Roman and Vivaldi.

…

Vivaldi was a quiet baby right up until the moment she discovered her toy xylophone. Upon realizing that she could make music by banging on it without mercy, we never had a quiet moment in the house again. I blamed Roman, who encouraged her daily musical pursuits with off-key singing and pots-turned-drums to give her a beat.

Sans did not help in the least when he cheered them on and threw socks at them like they were rock stars on stage. He never found their noise bothersome. Sans was lazy enough that he could sleep through just about anything, including our children's frequent concerts. I, on the other hand, was driven from the house to preserve my sanity on a regular basis. Try as she might, Vivaldi could not turn her stroller into a musical instrument. Thank goodness. And so Roman, Vivaldi, and I would take long walks through the park in the summer. The fresh air was good for all of us, and I was still hoping to get a little color into Vivaldi's face.

My daughter was pale. More accurately, her porcelain face made fresh snow look gray by comparison. I'd been worried about it at first, but apparently she had simply inherited Sans's bone-white complexion. She also had a small tuft of hair that was equally white and which glittered like powdered diamonds in the sunlight.

Give her a few years to grow up and an oversized sword, and she would be at home in any of Alphys's anime movies.

But right now, we were walking through the vast park beside the castle toward the public grounds. Today I actually managed to convince Sans to join us for a picnic by the lake, though he agreed to meet us there rather than take the long walk. Roman decided to stay with me and Vivaldi rather than take a shortcut with his father. My children had a relationship not unlike the one between Sans and Papyrus, and I was unsurprised to discover that they were soul twins as well.

Soul twins were rare among monsters, though not unheard of. It happened whenever one soul seed split into two. The children were rarely born at the same time. Instead, one would mature more quickly and the other would follow some years later. Sans was the elder soul twin, but he shared a bond with his brother that ran deeper than their bones.

Roman was already showing signs of being an over-protective older brother. Whenever Vivaldi began to cry at night, he was always the first one to her room. He also shared all of his toys, read her stories, and gave her piggy-back rides around the house. Then, when they were both exhausted, they would climb up onto Sans and take a nap in a white, bony dogpile.

I was glad that Roman was spending so much time with her. Vivaldi was developing at about the same rate as Roman had. She was already reading, talking, and running. About the only thing she wasn't breaking records in was magic. Unlike her brother, Vivaldi had almost no magic or Determination at all. As Sans put it, she had just enough to keep her alive and it was unlikely she would ever be able to manifest magical attacks like most monsters.

So in that case, an overprotective older brother would do her good. I'd just have to make sure Roman didn't smother her with good intentions, but he seemed conscientious of her need to grow, and I was pretty sure she was in good hands.

I pushed the stroller up the last hill, puffing a bit from the exertion. I could see Sans lying on a blanket under an apple tree. The basket and food had already been set up, so I sank onto the fabric as Roman gathered up his sister.

"Can we go play on the swings?" he asked. I nodded and warned him to be careful. He agreed before running off.

I curled up by Sans's side, and his arm came down to wrap around my shoulders. I smiled. He wasn't quite as asleep as he pretended to be.

"Peace and quiet at last," I sighed, closing my eyes and preparing for a brief nap before lunch. Even in the shade, the air was warm and comfortable. The blanket was soft, and I was dead tired from staying up late to work on presentation notes. Sans ran his fingers through my hair and I felt myself nodding off.

Now that Vivaldi was seven months old, I would be returning to work soon. Thankfully, I would be staying near home, but I would still be gone for most of the day. I didn't like leaving my family, but certain activities had ground to a halt in my absence, and I couldn't stay away forever.

"shh," Sans whispered. I felt his soul reach out to sooth mine, and I realized my worries and depression must have tinted the feelings of my soul. "just relax. we're together right now, and everything is alright."

Sans was right, of course. Life was good.

I was almost fully asleep when I heard Roman scream. I was jolted twice, first by the sound and again by Sans teleporting us both to the swing set. Roman was kneeling over Vivaldi, who was lying silent and unmoving with her eyes wide and glassy. Around her neck was a save point necklace.

Roman's save point necklace.

The one used to block his excess magical powers. But…Vivaldi didn't have excess magical power. She barely had any power at all. And she was half-monster. She needed magic to survive. She needed magic to survive. She. Needed. Magic. To. Survive.

Sans was ripping the necklace away before the gravity of my thoughts fully settled. He tossed the necklace aside and lit up with blue magic, pouring it into Vivaldi with all of his strength. I watched with numb, helpless terror as he revived her. Then I shook my head to clear it and knelt to hug Roman, who was shaking and crying. I picked up his necklace with clinical detachment and placed it around his neck.

"I-I th-thought that-that it would pr-protect her," Roman wailed. "You said it-it was magic and it would-would pro-protect…"

I squeezed Roman more tightly while he wailed.

"It'll be okay," I told him, hoping dearly to be proven right. Sans's soul was seized with panic as he pushed wave upon wave of magic into Vivaldi's soul. I could feel her soul fluttering weakly under his influence, but it felt fragile, as if she would break at any moment and fade away. "It'll be okay."

Finally, after what felt like hours, Vivaldi's soul beat with a steady rhythm. Sans leaned back, shaking, and I leaned over to pull him into a hug too.

"I…uh…need to get her to the lab," he said, his voice shaking. "to…to stabilize her. bring Roman home, okay?"

He didn't wait for a response before pulling away and teleporting back to the lab with our daughter. I swallowed thickly and suppressed the urge to pick up Roman and start sprinting home. There was nothing we could do to help at the moment. So I returned to the tree and had Roman help me pack up. It helped to calm us both, and I tried very hard not to focus on how empty my stroller felt as I pushed it home.

On the way, I explained to Roman the exact mechanics of the necklace. I should have done it months ago. He was old enough to understand now. But somehow, it just hadn't seemed urgent. He was a good boy who always kept his necklace on, and his magic production hadn't become dangerous yet, so even taking the necklace off wouldn't hurt him. But putting it on Vivaldi…

Roman listened in silence as I explained the magic and science behind the device and how dangerous it was for him to remove it. And obviously about how dangerous it was to Vivaldi with her underdeveloped magical abilities. He nodded occasionally to show that he understood. I repeated again and again that it wasn't his fault. I wasn't sure if he believed me.

When we finally reached the cottage, Roman demanded to come with me to the lab. I didn't have the heart to tell him no, so we went together. Sans pulled me into an embrace the moment I walked through the door and brushed his teeth against my hair in a kiss. His soul was calmer now, and I could feel Vivaldi's soul beating strongly from the table. She was bathed in a beam of blue magic from one of Sans's medical instruments. Her eyes zeroed in on Roman, who approached her and started bawling, begging her to forgive him. She just reached up to him and asked for him to hold her.

He did, making certain not to let the necklace touch her.

"She'll be alright?" I said, half questioning.

"she can no longer produce enough magic on her own," said Sans. I felt my whole body go cold at that. A monster, even a half-monster, that couldn't produce magic would turn to dust. If she was removed from the beam of magic, she would… "but I have an idea. it will be a challenge, but I think I can make this work."

He held up another save point necklace, identical to Romans.

"What?" I asked, baffled.

"Roman has excess magical energy," said Sans. "Vivaldi doesn't have enough. so, I can create a device that siphons off Roman's extra power and gives it to Vivaldi, a kind of constant magical transfusion. there are drawbacks. they won't be able to stay apart for extended periods of time, but it will stabilize them both for the rest of their natural lives. Roman will never out-produce his necklace, and Vivaldi will never outgrow her small power."

I nodded. It made sense, but I was already coming up with the many ways it could go wrong. What if they were separated? What if the necklaces broke? What if one died before the other? What if…what if…what if…

"How long will it take to create the device?" I asked, trying to still my thoughts. I didn't exactly have a better solution, and this one would have to work. We'd make it work.

"an hour, maybe less," said Sans. "I'll get started. you talk to the kids."

Right. I'd made the mistake of not explaining it to Roman the first time. Vivaldi was young, too young. But Roman would understand. He would make sure that she always wore her necklace. He would make sure they were never far apart.

"…and with your power, Vivaldi will be okay," I concluded my explanation. Roman was looking at his necklace, his eyes distant and sad. Magic was a deeply personal thing, and he probably felt like I was asking him for his very soul. It was unfair for me to demand that he hand it over, so I asked instead. "Roman, are you willing to transfer your magic to Vivaldi?"

I wasn't sure what I would do if he said no, but it was his power and his right. I just hoped he was old enough to understand the gravity of the situation. Roman stared at Vivaldi for a long minute and then nodded.

"…Yes…" he said quietly but surely. "I'll do it."

I sagged with relief. One step down. We sat together on a bench while Sans finished his work. There wasn't much left to say.

"I'll be taking readings to make sure everything looks good," said Sans when his work was done. "are you ready?"

I looked down at Roman, who nodded with his chin raised up. He looked so frightened.

"Don't worry," I said. I'd been to many terrifying doctor visits when I was a child, and I knew how scary they could be. I still had a fear of shots. "It won't hurt. It's just a transfusion, that's all."

Roman nodded mutely, watching his sister as the transfer started. Sans was keeping an eye socket on the readings, and I was paying close attention to the feel of his soul. He was calm and…happy? That was a good sign. But Roman's soul fluttered in a staccato beat just shy of panic, and I patted his back.

"H-How long will it take?" he asked tremulously. "Until…until I die?"

I blinked at him, startled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Monster d-die without their magic," said Roman. "I'm giving my magic to Vivy…so I'll die. I…I was just wondering how long it would take."

Oh.

Oh no.

"No, no Roman, you're not going to die," I said. He thought I was asking him to die so that Vivaldi could live. He thought I'd chosen her over him. He thought he was going to die. "Roman, you make excess magical energy. You have too much. The necklace is only taking away the magic that would hurt you. You still have more than enough for yourself. You're not going to die. I wouldn't let you die. Don't ever think that. I won't ever let anything bad happen to you, not you, and not Vivaldi."

He offered his life to save his sister. He was three years old and ready to die for his soul twin.

Roman started crying again then, and I held him close until the tests were done. Sans came around the table with Vivaldi in his arms, and we returned to the house. We spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening sitting on the couch, holding onto each other as though afraid we'd drift away any of us moved.

Vivaldi was the first to fall asleep, snoring quietly against Sans's chest. Roman followed suit a few minutes later in my arms. Sans was slow to sleep, but eventually he nodded off too. Then I was the only one awake, watching my family and wondering how such a nice, ordinary day could become so terrible in an instant.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I recalled Sans's words from earlier.

"We're together right now, and everything is alright," I said quietly. It was true. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if Sans hadn't been there, but thankfully I didn't have to. "We're together…and we're alright."

I leaned my head against Sans's shoulder as I felt my exhaustion finally overtake my fear. Things would work out.

They had to.

…

To be continued...


	5. Birthday

Small Font

Chapter 5: Birthday

Note: Fluff, just fluff.

…

I woke to the sounds of plates and pans in the kitchen. At first I had the wild, ludicrous thought that Sans had woken early to make breakfast. But the faint smell of ketchup and Grillbys under my nose thwarted that train of thought, and I snuggled closer to my dozing husband. My next thought was that maybe Papyrus had dropped by for a visit and was distracted by the need to make spaghetti. While slightly more likely than the first thought, I doubted Papyrus could manage to open the door without shouting loudly enough to wake me from the deepest slumber. That led me to my third thought.

That one or both of my children was fussing around in the kitchen unattended.

Well, someone needed to make sure the children didn't hurt themselves or burn the house down. What were they doing in the kitchen before the crack of dawn anyway? I groaned and tried to pull away from Sans. But as I sat up, Sans's arm snaked around my waist and dragged me back down to the blankets. I could have fought back, but I was tired, so I only huffed.

"Sans…" I said sleepily. "Let go, I need to check on the kids…"

I yawned widely, but Sans did not release me.

"let them make breakfast," he said, nuzzling my brow without opening his eyes. I gave a token wiggle of objection, but his grip remained firm. They really shouldn't be in the kitchen alone. I should be a good parent and go to supervise, no matter how many hours before the crack of dawn it was, and no matter how warm and inviting my bed was. "I told them not to use the oven or stove. it'll just be toast and cereal."

That did relieve some of my fears, and I settled back into the blankets. Sans gave me a few feather-light kisses as I closed my eyes.

"Why are they making breakfast?" I asked. "And how did you know about it?"

"it's a surprise," he said, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. "special occasion and all that."

I tried to think of what special occasion he could possibly be talking about, but my brain hadn't fully started yet and I was drawing a blank.

"You're going to make me guess, aren't you?" I asked tiredly. Sans chuckled and then fell silent, so I took that as a yes.

Special occasion. Special occasion? It was March. There were no holidays or special events at this time of year. The Surface Celebration wouldn't be for another few months, Roman wouldn't be starting school until the fall, and Vivaldi's music lessons hadn't reached any particular milestone.

I was still puzzling it out when I heard the sound of small footsteps on the stairs, giggles, and warnings to be quiet. Sans finally opened his eyes as our children opened the door.

"Happy Birthday, Mom!" they sang in unison, holding up a tray of breakfast, which consisted of sugary cereal, toast, and juice.

It was my birthday? Huh, I suppose it was my birthday. I hadn't really thought of it. I'd stopped celebrating after turning 150 or so. It was a fairly common practice among boss monsters. For many centuries, the monsters had been trapped in the Underground, and after a certain point, marking the passage of years became less a reminder of turning another year older, and more of a reminder of how long they'd been imprisoned beneath Mount Ebott. This was also the reason that monsters didn't celebrate the new year. Instead, we had the Surface Celebration.

I celebrated my children's birthdays, though, so I guessed that they wanted to do the same for me.

I sat up and stretched, smiling brightly as Roman put the tray on my lap and Vivaldi handed me the orange juice and a bouquet of golden flowers.

"This is lovely," I said as Sans pilfered a piece of toast. "Did you do this all by yourself?"

"Yep!" they chorused excitedly.

"I wanted to make pancakes," Roman admitted with a pout.

"But Dad said no," Vivaldi added.

"Your father can be very wise sometimes," I said, taking a sip of the juice and patting the bed. Roman bounced up and leaned over to help pull Vivaldi onto the blankets. There were enough bowls for each of us, and we ate together right there on the bed. I paused every few minutes to comment on the perfect proportion of cereal to milk and the particularly artful shade of brown for the toast. Roman giggled and Vivaldi beamed.

When we were finished, Vivaldi handed me a card made out of yellow paper with surprisingly neat letters proclaiming 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!' on the cover. At just over two years old, Vivaldi didn't have the dexterity to do precise calligraphy, but I could see her careful precision in the lines, and she'd clearly put a lot of effort into making it look beautiful. I had no doubt that there would be a few dozen rejected cards in a trash can somewhere.

I leaned over and gave her a hug and a kiss while praising her card endlessly.

"Wait, wait, there's music too," said Vivaldi, grinning. "I've been practicing a lot. A lot, a lot."

Then she pulled out her toy recorder and began to play a slow but beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday. I was actually quite impressed. I'd heard firsthand her lessons with Shyren, but Vivaldi's natural talents still managed to surprise me sometimes.

When she was done, we all clapped and praised her for her talent and dedication.

Roman fidgeted while waiting for his turn. He didn't begrudge the attention of his younger sibling like some children tended to, but he could become impatient if he felt he was being ignored for too long. That was when the pranks started, much to Sans's pride and my chagrin.

So I tucked Vivaldi at my side and turned to smile at my son. He bounced forward and handed me a messily wrapped red package held together with at least twenty times the necessary amount of tape.

"I worked really hard on it," he said earnestly.

I tore open the present delicately to reveal a drawing. It was a picture of us sitting around the kitchen table with big smiles on our faces. At the bottom was a messy scrawl so unlike Vivaldi's detailed script. It read 'Even when you're far away, you're still with us because we love you.'

I was suddenly keenly aware of my next diplomatic mission in six days. I felt a lump in my throat, but I swallowed it and smiled.

"It's beautiful," I said, pulling Roman close and giving him hugs and kisses too.

"I thought you might want to take it with you on your trips," he said. "So you'll always know how much we love you."

"It's perfect, and I'll keep it with me always," I promised. Vivaldi, possibly feeling left out, snuggled in on our hug too. Then Sans joined as well, brushing his teeth over my temple and sending a wave of love between our souls. We stayed like that for a long while before we began to disentangle ourselves.

Roman took the tray down to the kitchen to clean, and Vivaldi promptly passed out on Sans's lap. I checked her necklace reflexively, but it was still working perfectly. Vivaldi was just developing a habit of laziness to counter Roman's innate enthusiasm for everything.

Deciding that it was probably time to get up and start the day, I slid my legs off of the bed and yawned. But before I could stand, I felt my soul being touched with blue magic. It wasn't a forceful or restraining hold. It was more like a tug on the hem of my shirt, and I looked around.

"you can stay a while," said Sans, patting the bed. "you've been pretty tired lately, but you can never get tired of sleeping."

I was tired. I'd been staying up late every night for the past two weeks, and I couldn't even remember the last time I felt truly rested. I wanted to agree, to lay back down and doze all morning as though I didn't have a care in the world.

"I've got a lot of work," I said instead, but the blue magic didn't dissipate. If I'd really wanted to, I could have stood up and broken the hold easily. But I didn't want to. Not really.

"it can wait until tomorrow," he said. "c'mon, everyone needs a nap every once in a while."

I had a brief and heated internal debate before chuckling quietly and sliding back into bed.

"You're a bad influence," I said, smiling. "Before you know it, I'll be sleeping through meetings and showing up to press conferences in slippers and a bathrobe."

"well, you know that sleeping is my dream job," said Sans. "it's easy. I can do it with my eyes closed."

I laughed softly and snuggled into his side. Sans brushed his teeth over my brow in a kiss and settled in. I was just beginning to doze off again when I heard him mutter something quietly.

"happy birthday, Frisk."

…

To be continued...

Note: This story was designed to be a mix of fluff and drama. As a side question, do you prefer reading the fluff parts or the drama parts?


	6. Wedding

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Chapter 6: Wedding

Note: Thank you everyone for your input! For this chapter, this is a Sans/Frisk story, so I decided to include some fluff just for them. Now, I don't typically write romance, so hopefully this turned out okay. Also, I will say again that this story is a sequel to Remedy, so there are occasional references back to things that have happened previously.

...

Spring cleaning was always chaotic as we went through every room in the house one by one and sorted out the junk from the keepsakes. I always stood in awe of the sheer amount of dust that could accumulate in a year and swore to myself that I'd clean more often. Yeah, right.

This year I actually had two and a half helpers. Well, two helpers. Roman was one helper, and Sans and Vivaldi both counted for half a helper. They tended to sneak off and nap whenever I had my back turned. But Sans's magic could do more in five minutes than I could manage in an hour, so I let it slide. At the moment, all of my family was in the living room. Sans was levitating boxes and poofing them into the attic. Roman was picking up the random debris from under the recently moved couch. And Vivaldi was deciding which of her story books on the bookshelf could be donated to the Monster Daycare Center.

I was scrubbing a particularly persistent purple stain from beside the coffee table when Vivaldi spoke up.

"What is this?" Vivaldi was holding up a very old, very worn leather book with gilded script on the from that read 'Sans & Frisk'.

"It's your father's and my wedding album," I said, pouring magical cleaner on the stain that continued to laugh at my efforts to defeat it.

"Can I look at the pictures?" she asked, clearly deciding that a break was in order. I cast an annoyed look at the stain before standing up.

"Sure, let's look at them together," I said. Vivaldi was a curious child, and I knew she'd be asking me a dozen questions. Besides, it was getting late, and I was ready to call it a day.

"Yes, please!" said Vivaldi, bouncing over to the couch and snuggling under my arm when I sat down. Sans, also sensing a chance to take a much deserved break, flopped down on Vivaldi's other side. Then Roman, not wanting to be left out, wiggled under my other arm.

Once everyone was settled in, I cracked open the book to the first page, a picture of our proposal courtesy of Mom. Seeing the picture, it was like I was standing there once again.

…

 _The sunset held a bitter chill now that we were into late autumn. Beside me stood Sans, apparently immune to the cold. We were on Freedom Cliff to watch the sun and stars as we sometimes did. It had been years, though, since we'd taken the long trek up the mountainside. The nice thing about the sun and stars was that they were visible from everywhere._

 _But today, Sans had insisted we climb the cliff together. Mom and Dad were also here, though they stood off to one side, apparently deep in discussion, but occasionally casting furtive glances and knowing smiles at us. This should have clued me in that something was up, but I was more preoccupied with Sans, who was fidgeting nervously and throwing around at least twice as many puns as usual._

 _Eventually, he turned to me, and his voice lost its casual laziness._

 _"A long time ago, you told me something," he said. "You told me that I was your best friend, that you loved star gazing and sleepovers and how I was always there for you when you were afraid. You said that I made your life special, and that I filled it with fun and games and laughter."_

 _He reached out to take my hand. It was the speech I'd given him before asking him to save me, and I couldn't fathom why he was repeating it now. It was a painful memory for both of us, but it was also the first time I'd truly expressed how very much he meant to me. After curing my illness and growing up a little, Sans had taken the first tentative step toward a more…romantic relationship. I'd been uncertain at first, but as I stood here now, I knew it had been the right decision._

 _"But I never told you what you meant to me," he said. "You are my best friend. I love watching the stars with you. I love having you safe and sound in my home. I love that I can banish your fear and make you smile against all the dark things in this world. With you, I live a good life. And…I want you to be in my life…forever."_

 _I forgot how to breathe as Sans sank to one knee._

 _"Frisk the Skeleton has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he asked, holding up a ring. I couldn't help but laugh. "Frisk, will you marry me?"_

…

"But you're not 'the Skeleton', you're still Frisk Dreemurr, and Daddy is Sans Dreemurr," Vivaldi interrupted my dreamy thoughts. I shook my head.

"well, technically 'the skeleton' wasn't my last name," said Sans. "don't have one, really. it was more for the pun. Pap ended up taking the Dreemurr last name too, with Asgore's permission."

That sparked another brief memory of Papyrus wailing about how he was losing his brother, only to be mollified by his own name-change. He spent an entire week trying to decide if he was my brother or brother-in-law before deciding that he was great enough to be both.

I turned the page, and we saw a collage of wedding preparation photos.

…

 _I could hear the flurry of activity outside the room. It was still two hours until the start of the ceremony, but the chaos was still in full swing. I was being helped my Mom and Undyne while Alphys and Papyrus were helping Sans on the other side of the building._

 _I adjusted my robes for the twentieth time. They were perfectly tailored royal attire, but I was still a little uncomfortable. Over the years, I'd become used to the human-style formal wear and had all but abandoned the traditional royal monster outfits._

 _But this wedding was not a private affair for Sans, myself, and our families. No, this was a royal wedding and everything that implied. More than that, it was the very first union between a monster and a human. To call it a matter of diplomatic importance was a teeny, tiny understatement._

 _"Hold still, my child," said Mom. Her tone was gentle, but firm as she threaded the golden blossoms into my hair._

 _The yellow flowers were symbolic in many ways. They were the bed that softened my fall and possibly saved my life on several occasions. They were a symbol of the outside world brought into the Underground by the Fallen Child and Felled Prince. And these particular flowers were from the King of Monster's personal garden. They were symbols of hope and love and family. The Ceremony Hall would be decked out in green and gold, with garlands of flowers draped over every surface and flowers growing from every pot._

 _Sans would wear them too, along with his own set of uncomfortable royal robes._

 _I thought of my soon-to-be husband with bated breath, and I wondered if he was as nervous as I was. Probably not. He was the calm one, always smiling and reassuring me when I was uncertain or afraid. I almost called out to him out of habit at least a hundred times today, but I stopped just short of voicing his name._

 _Our souls already had a low-level of resonance courtesy of my accepting his proposal, so he would hear me if I called out to him, but it was unlucky for us to meet prior to the start of the ceremony._

 _Finally, Mom stood back and regarded me with teary eyes._

 _"Does it look bad?" I asked, reaching up to touch the flowers and hoping I didn't look like a fool._

 _"No, my child," she said, smiling. "You look absolutely perfect."_

 _…_

"Oooh, the flowers are really pretty," said Vivaldi, touching a picture of me and Mom sitting in front of the mirror. The look on Mom's face was a mix of joy and pride in her child's big day. I didn't look half bad either. We both stood in stark contrast to the picture of Sans in his dressing room. He looked like he was about to faint or be sick, or both. "Will I wear a flower crown too, one day?"

I laughed.

"Of course," I said, snuggling her close as she giggled. "You and Roman will both wear flower crowns when you find those special people you want to share your lives with."

I could see it now, a pair of ceremonies with Roman and Vivaldi escorting each other towards the loves of their lives. That brought me to turn the page, to see a much-recovered looking Sans walking down the aisle arm-in-arm with Papyrus while I walked down the opposite aisle, arm-in-arm with Mom.

…

 _The King of Monsters waited at the altar as he watched the four of us approach. He stood regal in his crown and dressed in full armor to guide us into our union and protect us on our day of bonding. It was more of a tradition than out of any real fear, but soul bonding left the couple vulnerable for several hours, so the ceremony typically took place under Asgore's careful protection. The rule had been doubly enforced since our return to the surface, and triply enforced for me. Asgore raised me as his own child, and he would not allow anyone to hurt me._

 _But I was only peripherally aware of my father. Instead, my eyes were focused on the other aisle, on Sans. He looked almost strange when fully cleaned up, dressed in properly fitting clothes, and without his habitual slouch. He looked almost regal. Almost._

 _And he was smiling at me._

 _…_

"You look really happy," Roman commented, touching one bony finger to a picture of us standing at the altar.

"we are," said Sans, winking at me. I had to agree.

There were several pages of pictures for the ceremony itself, but my memories of the following hours were pretty vague. I had been focused mainly on not making a fool of myself and remembering when to say certain lines. Sans's soul often reached out to me to sooth my jittery nerves. Dad witnessed the bonding of our souls, giving us a certain level of soul-empathy and awareness. Then there was the reception and endless parade of congratulations. And finally, there were the quiet moments where we stood together, alone and at peace with each other's company.

…

 _The whirlwind of greetings and thank yous and smiles was starting to wear thin when Sans pulled me off to one side. I knew he would do it even before his arm began to tug at mine. This close, with our new bond, I could almost read his thoughts. And he could almost read mine. It was a strange concept, but not unwelcome. I trusted him with my soul, and he trusted me with his._

 _We stood on a balcony to watch the last red light fade from the horizon. The party would wind down soon, and we would retreat back to the cottage for some much-deserved sleep. I couldn't tell if that thought was mine or his. Probably both._

 _We didn't say anything. For us there was no need for words. We simply stood there, arm-in-arm, surrounded by our people, who all wished us well_ , _safe in our kingdom on the surface. And we watched the first of the stars emerge from the velvety sky._

 _…_

As I turned to the final page, a picture of our kiss, a piece of paper fell out. Vivaldi caught it and opened it curiously.

"It's music," she said, holding up the sheet music for me to see. I took it, surprised until I noticed the title.

"Oh yes, this was a present from Shyren, your music teacher," I said. "She wrote this song for us. It's called Hopes and Dreams. Because Sans and I held the hopes and dreams for monsters and humans alike."

Vivaldi's eyes went wide, and she hopped off of the couch.

"I can play this," she said, taking her recorder and smoothing out the paper on the floor. Sans stood up and offered me his hand.

"may I have this dance?" he asked. I smiled and took his hand as Vivaldi began to play. Her notes were clear and confident, and though they were not quite the same as Shyren's unparalleled beauty, I could still imagine the shy monster's voice as she sang it to us for the very first time. And as Sans led my steps, I was back in the Ceremony Hall, encircled by my family and friends. I could feel their hearts beating as one, their hopes and dreams filling us up even as my soul beat together with my love. I could see Sans, his eyes bright and happy. There was no uncertainty in those eyes, no fear.

I felt his heart. I felt his soul.

"I love you," we said.

And we danced.

…

To be continued...


	7. Fight

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Chapter 7: Fight

Note: I was writing more fluff, but I didn't really like where it was going. So, here is a chapter to swing back to the plot.

…

I felt many things as I walked down the long, brightly lit hallway. But more than anything else, I felt disbelief. I'd been called into the Ebott Elementary School office for quite possibly the most absurd reason possible: my son had gotten into a fight.

With seven other boys.

And apparently he won. For a given value of 'won' when dealing with Elementary School brawls. The idea of Roman getting into a fight was bizarre. Roman was the last person I would have thought capable of violence. Sans could be violent when something truly roused his fury, though I could count on one hand the number of times I'd seen that happen and still have fingers left over. Even Vivaldi was more prone to picking fights on the few occasions when she thought it was worth the effort.

But Roman?

My Roman?

It just didn't make any sense.

I finally reached the principal's office and stepped inside. The human secretary looked at me with blank indifference until I mentioned my name, at which point she pursed her lips and directed me to Mr. Wretcher's door. I thanked her politely and wondered where the previous monster secretary had gone. Maybe she'd been moved to a different position when the new principal had been hired last year…

That train of thought cut off abruptly as I opened the door and felt my son's soul. Though our bond was weaker than the one I shared with Sans, I could still sense strong emotions from him. He was usually bright and happy. But I didn't feel that now. I felt something as foreign as a parasite in my son's soul.

I felt his hatred.

My eyes darted to where he was sitting with his back ram-rod straight and his boney hands gripping the edges of his chair in a vice-like hold. He was not looking at me. I followed his line of sight to see Mr. Wretcher standing with his palms flat against his impressive mahogany desk. The man's face was twisted into something ugly, but he was slowly smoothing his features as he turned to me.

"Ah, _Ambassador_ Dreemurr," he said with a sarcastic curl to my title. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming. Sit."

He took his own advice and sat in his throne-like padded chair. I glanced at the only available chair in front of his desk. It was a small plastic thing, the type found in kindergarten classrooms. Sitting in that, I'd be looking up at him like a child.

As a diplomat, my job involved a great deal of power-plays between people. From centuries of experience, I knew that tiny things could make a vast difference in how an interaction played out. I knew which side to stand on when shaking hands for a photograph. I knew which cultures valued being first through the door or last through the door. I knew which position at a table represented higher status than another. I knew every single subtle way a person could manipulate another into feeling weak. Powerless.

I took two steps to stand behind Roman and laid my hands lightly on his shoulders. Then I leveled the principal with a cool, unimpressed stare.

"Thank you for the offer," I said, my voice flat any my body utterly still. "But I will stand."

Mr. Wretcher met my unblinking gaze for five seconds before he finally turned away.

"Do you understand why I've summoned you here today?" he asked, not giving up.

"I am here to listen to your explanations for the conflict involving my son as well as your proposal for preventing incidents like this in the future," I said. "I am extremely disappointed in your failure to maintain a safe learning environment for my child."

I didn't know what had happened. It was still possible that Roman had started the fight, that he'd done something worthy of being punished, but it went against everything I knew about his character. Something else was going on.

Mr. Wretcher's face turned a faint shade of red.

"Your son started a fight with seven boys from Class 3-1A," he said. "As a student from Class 3-4D, he should not have been interacting with the human children at all, let alone attacking them like a wild animal until their HP was down to 0.5!"

I spared a moment to be suitably impressed by my son's ability to knock multiple opponents down to a fraction of an HP. I'd only ever seen Papyrus do that. But another minor detail caught my attention.

"What do you mean Class 3-4D?" I asked. "He should be in Class 3-1A. And why would he not be allowed to interact with the human children? That is the purpose of this institution, is it not?"

Ebott Elementary was heavily integrated with monsters and humans. Both Roman and Vivaldi were enrolled in part because they were heirs to the monster throne and needed to interact with humans, and in part because they were half-humans themselves and they deserved the chance to learn more about their human heritage. This school was also better accommodated to their accelerated learning style with each grade being separated by skill level. The 1A classes were filled with the honor students and the 4F classes were filled with students that needed more help and attention. But class 3-4D put Roman near the very bottom of the third grade, which was ridiculous considering his consistently perfect scores on absolutely everything. At this point, the only person who could correct him on anything was Vivaldi, and even that was rare.

Mr. Wretcher snorted and leaned back.

"In order to prevent conflicts arising between monsters and humans, the children have been separated for their own safety," he said. "Humans are taking classes 1A through 2D, and monsters are taking classes 2F through 4F. Your son was moved to class 3-4D after an oral assessment given by myself and Mrs. Graves."

I felt the temperature of my blood slowly rising, but I gave no outward sign of my anger.

"That policy will be reversed at some other time," I said. "For now, you will explain the circumstances of the fight."

"Reverse—," he spluttered. "Explain? _Explain_? Your son attacked seven students! That little beast you call a child injured seven innocent—"

"They hurt Vivy."

The fury in Roman's soul screamed even as his voice remained eerily calm, his anger belied only by the minute growl at his sister's name.

Oh.

Well, that did explain a lot.

Segregation. Tribalism. Contempt from those in power. In this environment, it wasn't difficult to see Vivaldi getting bullied for being a hybrid. And Roman… I'd always known that he possessed a guardian streak a mile wide, from his proclamations to protect me to his willingness to die for his sister. He was a smiling, friendly child, but only until someone hurt the people he loved. I closed my eyes briefly to calm myself and suppress the flare of anger at children who didn't know any better.

"You failed to mention that my daughter sustained injuries," I said. Her HP was low, and against seven boys…

Mr. Wretcher scoffed.

"The nurse gave her some of that Monster Candy, and she was fine," he said dismissively. "She's lazing about in the nurse's office now."

She wasn't fine. She was half human. She needed more than magic to heal. I squeezed Roman's shoulder as a signal to leave, and he stood up.

"We're not done here," Mr. Wretcher said, getting to his feet. "Your son has to answer for his crimes or I will expel him."

"Yes, we are," I said. "And you will not punish him."

Mr. Wretcher's face turned a darker shade of red. I held the door open and Roman stepped outside.

"That is not your decision," he said. " _I_ am the principal."

I paused in the door and turned back to stare him down.

"You are replaceable," I said.

The look on his face went from angry to confused to terrified in three seconds flat. And with that, I closed the door and strode down the hall toward the nurse. I'd speak to the schoolboard tomorrow. Principals were not typically removed so soon into a new school year, but this would be the exception.

I would make sure of it.

Roman remained silent the entire walk with his soul still seething. I reached out to sooth it as Sans often did with me, and I felt his underlying fear. Fear for Vivaldi. I pulled out my phone and called for my husband. He answered as I entered the nurse's station. The nurse took one look at me and pointed to the bed by the window. Vivaldi was unconscious. There were no visible wounds on her skin, but her soul…

"yo, how did—," Sans began.

"I need you here now," I said, cutting him off. "Vivaldi is hurt."

The last word had barely left my mouth when Sans appeared at my side and gathered up Vivaldi in his arms, teleporting her home without question. This left me with only the briefest impression of her soul, of how weak and wounded it felt.

Vivaldi.

My Vivaldi.

"We're going home," I said to Roman while internally cursing my lack of magic. Sans couldn't teleport with more than one person at a time, and he would be too busy healing our daughter to come and get us. Roman and I were left taking the long drive back before we would know what had happened.

"You will not return to school for the next week," I said as we stepped out of the car in front of our home.

It would take about that long to drag in a suitable replacement principal from another school. And I'd need to unearth the reason Mr. Wretcher had been hired in the first place. There might be slightly more house-cleaning to do on the schoolboard, and I'd have to keep an eye on things here as well. If all else failed, my children would attend a monster school.

"I wanted to call you," said Roman, and for the first time, I heard a tremble in his voice. "Mr. Wretcher wouldn't let me. He said that Vivy was fine, that she was just being lazy. He said that he'd expel me if I 'lied' and told you what happened, and that you'd get in trouble because you're an Ambassador and you have a reputation and I would ruin it because I was a bad kid…"

His voice trailed off as he sniffed. I knelt down and held him in my arms as he shook with shame and fear. He was trying to protect me, I realized. Just as he was trying to protect Vivaldi.

"You are not a bad kid," I said with all the strength and steadiness I had left to give. "You are my son, and I'm proud of you for protecting your sister. And if anyone ever tries to use me to threaten you, then you have my permission to laugh in their face. You and your sister are my pride, and you will never hurt my 'reputation'. Do you understand?"

Roman nodded into my chest and quieted after several minutes. We made our way into the lab. Vivaldi was sitting up on the bed while Sans sat at a monitor. His eyes flicked to Roman before he gave me an indolent smile.

"clean bill of health," he said. "easy as butts pie to patch her up. no worries, right Princess?"

"Yep!" Vivaldi said, smiling and hopping down from the bed. I could feel the anxiety leaking from her soul despite her chipper attitude. She didn't want us to see her terror, but what else would she feel after having been attacked? Vivaldi ran over to Roman and gave him a hug, which he returned delicately, as though afraid he'd break her if he wasn't careful.

We returned to the house together, and I spent the rest of the afternoon researching each of the schoolboard members. I made calls to every monster parent I knew personally as well as a few of the human parents. I collected the necessary data and scheduled a meeting with the schoolboard members for tomorrow.

Sans brought me dinner in my office, which I barely touched as I wrote up a document to submit to the police for child endangerment.

"I'll give you an alibi if you need one," Sans said offhandedly as he leaned against the door. "you're really going for blood here."

I couldn't exactly argue that point.

"It will never happen again," I said. "He's eight. She's five. They're too young. This never should have happened."

Sans leaned forward and pressed his teeth into my hair.

"we knew something like this would happen eventually," he said. "our relationship was never normal, and we knew that they would face hardships when they grew older, especially from humans."

Not for the first time, I felt regret for my own humanity. It was my strength, but my human blood would cause my children nothing but pain as they tried to grow up in a world they would never quite belong in. Not as monsters. And not as humans.

"They're children, Sans," I said wearily. It wasn't an accusation or defense, but a tired plea without an answer. "They shouldn't have to face this yet."

Sans wrapped his arms around me even as his soul soothed mine.

"they should start training with Pap and Undyne tomorrow, and I can teach Roman how to teleport with a passenger," said Sans. It was a suggestion, but I shied away from the implication: that they would need to know how to fight. That their lives might depend on their ability to hurt others. "Frisk?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Sans gave me a light squeeze and pulled me from my chair. He led me to bed, but it was a long time before I could find sleep. All I could think about were the bright smiling faces of my two babies. Their laughter. Their hope. Their joy.

Vivaldi.

Roman.

I could feel the light of their souls in the other room.

And I could remember the darkness within one of them, the anger and fear.

And hatred.

I tossed and turned until Sans, half-asleep, pulled me against his chest and held me quietly. I gave him a feather-light kiss and closed my eyes, trying to will away the images of my own battle for survival from long ago. But as I finally began to drift off, I couldn't help but think about the small goat monster who warned me about the Floweys of this world.

And about what the humans had done to him.

…

To be continued...


	8. Save

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Chapter 8: Save

…

"MOM! MOM! Guess what?"

My daughter's excited squeal as she bulldozed her way into the living room could mean only one thing. I smiled and set my pen down carefully before turning to look at Vivaldi, her face flushed from having run all the way home from school and a sheaf of papers clutched against her chest.

"Hmm…," I said, drawing out the word teasingly. Vivaldi was practically quivering with excitement. "Let me think…. Could it be that you got another A on your spelling test?" Vivaldi shook her head and bounced impatiently on her heels. "No? Was it pizza and ice cream day at school?" Vivaldi rolled her eyes. "No? Well, could it be that you got—"

"I'm playing you!" Vivaldi shouted, apparently too eager to play my game. She held up the papers, which turned out to be the script for 'Angel of the Underground', the story of my journey through the Underground. Actually, that revelation did catch me by surprise.

Every year, the Surface Celebration began with this play starring monster and human children. Mom and Dad had approved the official script centuries ago, and my friends and I had starred in the very first performance. Vivaldi had spoken of nothing else for two months before the audition. But because she was only six years old, I had expected her to play one of the background characters at best. To take the starring role…

"That's amazing, Vivaldi," I said, grinning and scooping her up. "I'm so proud of you! You'll have a lot of lines to memorize, but I know you can do it."

"Of course I can do it, Mom," Vivaldi said, snuggling into my arms. "I memorized the whole script six weeks ago."

Oh right, sometimes I forgot who I was talking to.

"You'll do great," I said.

Vivaldi nodded into my shoulder.

"Hey, Mom…." There was a hint of hesitance in her voice that made me pause. "Do you think…do you think that if I'm really good, that people will like me?"

I felt my heart drop at the question.

Oh no….

"People do like you," I said, rubbing her back to comfort her. "Vivaldi, has something happened at school?"

"No!" Vivaldi said a little too quickly. "All of the monsters are really nice. And the humans…only say mean stuff. It's not like it was before."

'Before' when they had nearly killed her. In spite of Sans's words, the damage to her soul had been very nearly fatal. Luckily, the human children weren't old enough to deliver true killing intent.

"Then what is it?" I asked. Vivaldi took a deep breath.

"Everybody treats me like I'm different," she said. "The humans look down at me because I'm half monster. And all the monsters look at me like I'm…like I'm a princess. Because I am. But that's not everything! I'm more than just an heir to a throne. I'm more than just your daughter. Not that that's bad!" She was quick to reassure me. "It's just…"

"You don't want your identity to be tied to someone or something else?" I supplied. I knew that feeling. It was difficult sometimes when everyone viewed me as the Angel of the Underground. Legendary Hero. Savior. Ambassador. They were all lovely titles, but there were days when I just wanted to be Frisk.

"Everyone likes Mettaton," said Vivaldi. "So, I thought that maybe, if I was up on stage…that I'd maybe…make a friend?"

The hope and longing in her voice was like a needle through my soul.

"Making friends is always hard," I said. "Hey, just look at me. I made my very first friend down in the Underground, and that was when I was nine. Don't worry too much about getting other people to like you. Instead, go out there and meet new people. I think being in this play is a great chance to talk with other monsters your age and get to know them. I'm sure you'll have lots of new friends."

Hopefully.

"…Hey, Mom," came a much more subdued voice from the door. Vivaldi wiggled until I set her down.

"Roman, is something wrong?" I asked, kneeling in front of him. I noticed distantly that he was going through a growth spurt, as he was now far too big to scoop up into my arms. When had he grown that much? How had I not noticed when I put him down for the last time? I should have realized then that I would never be able to pick him up and hold him again.

"No…I got a part in the play too," he said, holding up his script with far less eagerness than his sister. Oh. He'd been really hoping for the chance to play his role model and hero: The Great Papyrus. For the last two years, he'd played an extra and Monster Kid. He'd been really practicing, hoping to play the hero he admired most. "I'm playing Dad."

I couldn't help it. I chuckled.

"Don't let your father hear your enthusiasm," I said. "But that's a great part to play! And I'm sure you can get Papyrus next year."

"It's not a great part," Roman groused, folding his arms. "Dad didn't even do anything. He just told jokes and tried to convince you to stay trapped in the mountain."

The story of my journey was heavily edited for the general public. There was no mention of the resets, my deaths, or my illness. Or Asriel. No one really knew what Sans had done for me. He was the true unsung hero of our story.

"When I left the ruins, do you know what I felt?" I asked. Roman shook his head. "Fear. I felt fear so strong that when I heard your father's footsteps approaching, I stood completely frozen. I couldn't run or fight or talk. I was terrified. And you know what he did? He took that fear away. If it had been anyone else who met me at the gate, I'm not sure what would have happened. But it was him. Your father was my very first true friend. He is my hero."

Roman looked down.

"I guess," he muttered. "But he still tried to convince you to stay in that prison. He didn't even want to free the monsters."

"You need to remember something, Roman," I said slowly. He was old enough now to have this conversation, but that didn't make my next words any easier to say. "Your grandfather killed the last six humans who entered his castle."

It was an open secret, a fact that was just accepted and which no one ever really talked about. The six other children who had died, who had been murdered, were revered for their role in saving all of monster-kind, but sometimes people forgot what it was like to face Asgore down for the first time, not knowing if I would kill or be killed. And I had been killed. I had been killed many times. The official version of the story didn't involve the fight at all. Instead, I was saved by Toriel and I defeated Flowey by talking to him and convincing him to let everyone go.

"You know your lines by now, right?" I asked, because Roman had also memorized the entire script during his first play, and I knew he'd refreshed his memory for rehearsals. He nodded. "Good. Close your eyes. Imagine that you're standing at the table and Vivaldi is standing opposite. Imagine that she's walking into certain death. Either hers or Asgore's." Roman frowned and nodded again. "What do you say?"

He took a deep breath.

"Down here, you've already got food, drink, friends…" he said, and there was a small note of desperation in his voice. "Is what you have to do…really worth it?" He opened his eyes. "I guess I understand. But he's still not as cool as Uncle Papyrus."

"No one is," I assured him. "But keep practicing, and you'll get to be Papyrus next year."

"It's Kenny's fault," said Roman. "He was trying out for you, but Vivy was better. He's only second best."

Kenny was a human boy who had played me last year. I was doubly impressed by Vivaldi managing to snatch the lead role out from under him. I turned to congratulate my daughter again, but she was frowning sadly at her script.

"Roman…" she began. "I could…I could always…you know, turn down my role. Kenny would play Mom and you would get Uncle Papyrus. I could try again next year…."

"No!" Roman shouted, hugging her fiercely. "You tried so hard for this. You're not allowed to give it up. Besides, I hated that jerk playing Mom. You're perfect for the role, okay? So don't say that again. Besides, Mom's right. Dad's pretty important too."

I snorted softly at the concession. Maybe one day I'd tell them the truth of what had happened. One day…But for now, I tackled them both in a warm embrace and gave them kisses and praise for earning their roles.

…

Two months later, I was sitting in the front row with Sans's arm around my shoulders, watching our story being told to a massive audience in the Ebott amphitheater. My children were even better actors than I'd hoped, and their time on stage together made the other children seem clumsy and stilted by comparison. Roman even managed to put aside his dislike of Kenny to act in an only-partially sarcastic way during their brotherly interactions. And I was especially impressed by Vivaldi's song with Shyren. The whole theater listened to her music in perfect silence and awe. It was a truly beautiful performance.

There was laughter, jokes, love, tears, and finally, there was battle.

Then the play ended with everyone standing on the stage, watching the sunset at our backs. And then the curtains fell, and roses and socks were thrown, and I presented the formal bouquet of golden flowers to Vivaldi.

"You were perfect," I said softly around the roar of cheering. Vivaldi laughed and hugged me.

"Thanks, Mom," she said.

Then she stood back and bowed to the audience once more.

Sans and I met our children behind stage a few minutes later as the crowd dispersed into the festival. I still had a few things to prepare for the midnight speeches, but that wasn't for another few hours. The Surface Celebration began in the early evening and went all the way until dawn. In the meantime, there were games and music and dancing to attend to. Not to mention the plethora of official visitors. There was no such thing as a true holiday for a member of the royal family.

But I still had a little time to spend with my children before my responsibilities called me away.

"yo, I'll get us some food while you go find some games, alright?" said Sans, brushing his teeth against my lips in a kiss.

"Sure, see you soon," I said, guiding Roman and Vivaldi between two of the booths. It was easier to walk in the deserted space behind everything than to fight our way through the crowds. "Okay, so which do you want to try first: the MTT ring toss or magical spear darts?"

"Spear darts!" said Vivaldi. "And can we do face painting after?"

"Sure," I said. "What do you think, Roman?" But Roman wasn't at my side anymore. He was standing some distance off, staring at nothing and holding his hand out to touch the air at shoulder height. "Roman?"

My son ran back to my side, looking confused.

"Hey, Mom, what is that thing?" he asked, gesturing to the empty air. "It looks like my necklace."

I felt my whole body go cold.

"You…" I said. But I didn't have time to finish. A man, a human man, stepped up behind me. I heard a noise, like a car backfiring. And I lurched forward as though punched in the small of my back.

I looked at my stomach and pressed my hand against the warmth pooling down my front. It came away red.

Oh.

Oh, no.

"Run," I said, stumbling forward. "Roman! Vivaldi! RUN!"

And the man shot me again.

…

To be continued…

Note: All video game players know to beware the sudden appearance of a random save point. They never, ever mean something good is about to happen.

Note 2: Exit wound corrected. Thanks Loyal Fan!


	9. Loop

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Chapter 9: Loop

...

I had died hundreds of times, both inside the Underground and on the surface. I'd been killed by monsters, disease, and even my own father. If there was anyone who should be prepared to face death, it would be me. But as I fell, I looked to my children, standing frozen with shock and fear. I wasn't ready to leave them behind. I wasn't ready to abandon them to the harsh realities of this world alone. I wasn't ready to die.

I reached for my Determination, but there was nothing there.

I tried again.

And again.

And again.

Nothing.

And then I was gone.

Until I wasn't.

I was standing behind the game booth with Vivaldi by my side and Roman some distance away with his hand outstretched to touch the save point I could not see. Roman must have reset the timeline, either by accident or…death. I didn't think too deeply on the likelihood that he had managed to figure out save points on his own in mere seconds. I didn't think about how the assassin had very likely killed my two babies after finishing with me. I didn't think because I had to act. I turned in time to see the man raising his weapon.

It was Mr. Wretcher.

I'd faced many attackers in my life. Shortly after monsters returned to the surface, I'd faced assassins on a near weekly basis. Sans and Papyrus had guarded me diligently, often eliminating threats before I'd even registered their presence. My other friends were there too. Even Monster Kid had become a royal guard for a short time before he married and had children of his own. But in the past century, there had only been three credible attempts, and I'd grown careless about security. We'd all grown careless. I was such a fool. But Mr. Wretcher wasn't a typical assassin. I could see his unkempt hair and unshaven face as well as the sallowness of his skin and drunken bleariness of his eyes. No, this wasn't a political action.

His motivation was likely revenge for losing his livelihood. I'd personally ensured that he would no longer be allowed to work with children, and that had severely limited his career options as an educator. I had only myself to blame for this.

"Mr. Wretcher!" I shouted, dodging to one side and throwing off his aim. He paused, but his eyes refocused and he shot me before I could say another word. My death was faster this time, his first bullet piercing my chest and followed by two more.

Then I was standing, whole and unhurt again, and Vivaldi was crying. Roman was screaming in fury and terror, and I shouted at them to run.

Mr. Wretcher shot me again before I could even turn around. He was getting faster with each try.

But how? He couldn't actually be remembering the resets, could he? No, that was impossible. But then why…?

Oh no…

The compounding across loops.

Long ago, back when I'd used the resets myself, I'd gotten sick and died over and over and over again. Every time I'd gotten sick, it had been quicker and more serious than the previous illness. My death was compounding across loops. Again. And I had no time. I had no time to act or fight or flee. I had no time at all.

Mr. Wretcher shot me. The world reset.

He shot me again. The world reset.

Again. The world reset.

Again. The world reset.

I quickly lost track of how many times I was killed. Roman and Vivaldi both acted a little different each time, and I suspected…no, I knew that they could recall each of the loops as well. And Roman appeared to have control over the resetting to some extent. They were watching me die over and over again. Possibly, they were being killed over and over again themselves.

I felt the fear in Vivaldi's soul. I felt the anger in Roman's, anger which soon bled to hatred. Hot, deep, ruthless hatred. Then the bone attacks appeared.

The first time they struck Mr. Wretcher, he stumbled back, and I survived long enough to push Vivaldi out of the line of fire. He shot me. The world reset.

The second time, he was struck down to 0.5 HP, and I called out for Roman to stop. There had to be a way to solve this peacefully. But Mr. Wretcher recovered when Roman hesitated before his next attack, and I was too slow to dodge. He shot me. The world reset.

The third time, Mr. Wretcher was struck down to 0.1HP. He shot me again. The world reset.

I felt Roman's fury grow cold, more bitter than vengeful as he began his attack.

0.01HP. He shot me again. The world reset.

This time I couldn't feel Roman's anger at all, just a calculated attack full of intent.

0.001HP. He shot me again. The world reset.

And in a single moment that hung in the air, I felt something. It wasn't like the coldness, the anger, and the hatred from before. It was focused and utterly calm. It was killing intent. Roman's killing intent. Even with a LV of 1, intent that powerful would be enough to end Mr. Wretcher's life. I opened my mouth to call out, to beg Roman to stop. He was a child. He was too young. He was—

The bones appeared, and I watched in slow motion as they approached the disgraced human man. I reached out to push him aside, to save his life even as he raised his hand to take mine. And then it was over.

Mr. Wretcher stood several feet away, unconscious and at the feet of my lazy husband, whose eye was burning with blue-gold fire. It took my frazzled brain a moment to comprehend what had just happened. But of course Sans would have felt the resets. Of course he would come running.

Just in time…

I collapsed, clutching my chest as the phantom pain of the gunshots hit me again. Not real. I was alright. It was just shock. I was hyperventilating, and Vivaldi was clutching at my arm, crying. I wanted to comfort her, but I was could only kneel, shaking in the dirt. Then Roman was there, crying too. With all of my willpower, I pulled my children close to my chest and tried to breathe.

It took Sans a minute to join us, and when I finally raised my head up, I saw that Mr. Wretcher had vanished, likely into a prison cell somewhere. I felt Sans's soul brush against my own, and I felt the mix of anger, fear, shock, guilt, horror, and a whole host of other things as he pulled us all into his lap and didn't let go.

"Why?" Roman sniffed. "Why are humans so evil?"

I swallowed hard and tried to object, tried to defend my own kind. It was half of Roman's and Vivaldi's heritage. I should say something for myself, for them, for the entirety of the human race. But no words came forth, only a sob. I didn't want to break down in front of my children. I didn't want to be weak when they so needed me to be strong. I didn't want any of this to happen….

Sans's magic washed over all of us, a blue blanket of warmth and reassurance that everything would be alright. I leaned into him and he redoubled his power.

"Roman, I need you to take your sister back to the lab," said Sans. "I'll bring your Mother."

Roman and Vivaldi both shook their heads and clutched at me more tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Roman," said Sans, and his voice lost any casualness. "It's not safe here. Take Vivaldi home."

Roman stilled at his warning and nodded, slowly disentangling himself from our arms and pulling Vivaldi into a tight hug before teleporting away. Sans continued to soothe my soul for an extra moment before bringing me to the lab as well.

"there could still be effects from the compounding," said Sans as he tried to lift me to my feet. My legs wouldn't support my weight, however, so carried me over to an examination table. The device beside it was familiar, though it had been relegated to a dusty corner of the lab after having been unused for centuries. It was the machine from the void lab, the one that could examine the paths of my soul, my life, and my fate.

Roman and Vivaldi sat on the floor nearby, still holding onto each other for dear life as they watched Sans power on the machine and bring out the threads of my soul. I could see my life line, still bright with the magic from the lab monsters and Doctor Gaster. Sans pressed more buttons and carefully examined the readouts. I lay there quietly, trying to feel the subtle shifts in his emotions as he parsed the data.

It wasn't good.

"the good news is that the future hasn't been severed," said Sans. "Roman only has a single save point, so it won't spiral in an ever-narrowing loop like it did last time. he was only loading a save rather than resetting, and that's important. but you have a cause of death now, Frisk. 'assassination'. not as unavoidable as illness, but not easily handled either. and there are other complications to assassinations. worse, it's been compounded twenty seven times already."

I could see what he meant. Mostly. I had only the vaguest notion of how loading a save differed from a true reset, but according to Sans, it meant that the timeline would still progress, which was good. As for the compounding cause of death, I'd guessed that already. Even with Mr. Wretcher in jail, my cause of death would still be 'assassination', and I would likely be hunted by assassins at a much higher rate from now on. Attacks like that would not go unnoticed. There would be political consequences.

War.

"And the kids?" I asked, my voice rough and strained. I winced at how weak I sounded. I had to pull myself together. What was dying twenty seven times to someone who had died hundreds of times before? It should be nothing. I had to be strong for my family.

"they were never killed," said Sans, and I felt the relief wash over my soul, like a boulder being lifted straight off of my chest. Roman had figured out the save point…somehow. He and Vivaldi were still safe. "but I can't remove your cause of death. the procedure only works once. you'll be killed by an assassin, and I can't change that."

"What's going on?" Vivaldi asked, her voice trembling and scared. "Mom? Dad? What's happening?"

"it's nothing you need to worry about," Sans began, and I nodded. They were too young.

"Tell us the truth," growled Roman. It was so unlike him, so angry. "I don't know what happened, but if Mom is going to die again, we have to know. We have to know so that I can stop it."

I stared at my son, noting the tension in his bones, the bright red glow of his eyes, and the snarl on his teeth.

Oh no.

Deaths were not the only thing that could be compounded across loops. Emotions could as well. Sans's love for me had grown with each loop. And so had Flowey's boredom, which led to his inevitable madness. I reached out my soul to feel Roman's, and I drew back when I felt the unnatural depth of his hatred.

I looked to Sans, who must have felt it too. My husband's eyes were black and empty, and his soul was strangely muted. Then he sighed and rubbed the back of his skull.

"alright," he said. "you're still too young, but you have some control over the save points now. it's 'time' for you to learn the truth."

I started to object, but then I stopped. No, they were still children, but they deserved to know the dangers they would face. I could no longer guarantee their safety. Thankfully, Sans was the one who told our story while I tried to make plans for my inevitable assassination attempts. They were preventable, but they would become a simple, unavoidable facet of my life. Some of them were likely to succeed as well.

I would have to avoid business trips. I would have to tell Mom and Dad that someone was trying to kill me. I would have to protect my children and my husband. I looked over to my family, Roman and Vivaldi staring at their father with newfound awe and respect and no small amount of disbelief. They glanced at me occasionally, and I nodded to support the truth of our story.

It was hard to believe. I'd admit that.

When Sans was finished, we all sat in silence for a long few minutes. It was Vivaldi who eventually broke the silence.

"When will the next assassin try to kill Mom?" she asked hesitantly.

"we can't know," said Sans. "it might be days or years into the future. Paps will be their new full time body guard as soon as I can arrange it tomorrow. and I'll be here."

That last bit was said with absolute certainty, a promise and reassurance all in one.

"I have a question," said Roman, looking down with a furrowed brow. "Mom died a lot in the Underground, killed by monsters...killed by Granddad. Why weren't those deaths compounded?"

Sans grinned, and it was a somewhat vicious smile.

"that was my doing," he said. "I had trouble with the flower controlling the timelines and murdering everyone, so I stabilized the lifelines of everyone within the Underground to prevent death compounding. that was for my own sake as well as everyone else's. it didn't work on the surface, though. too far from the core. the death compounding only got into the Underground after it infected Frisk's whole health line when they were pulled out of the machine."

He patted the device. Roman's eyes were wide with disbelief and admiration. He opened his mouth, probably to ask a thousand more questions, but I was exhausted.

"It's been a busy night," I said, sliding off of the table and standing. I was pleased by the steadiness of my tone and my ability to stand unaided. "Tomorrow will be a busy day for all of us, and I think it's time for bed. Sans will secure the house, and you two will sleep with us until we can establish a more secure…home."

It was hard to think about treating our small cottage like a bunker that needed to be fortified, but it was the reality of our situation now. How was I going to explain this to everyone? I shook my head and we all returned to the house. Sans locked the doors and windows, placing magic and wards and activating the few, rarely used puzzles that defended our small residence. We settled down to sleep together in bed.

I was almost asleep when I heard the sound of a window breaking.

…

To be Continued...

Note: I decided to explain something I forgot to mention in Remedy about why the illness deaths compounded but none of the other deaths did. Oh well, better late than never.


	10. Underground

Small Font

Chapter 10: Underground

…

There were two assassination attempts that night. Both were easily dealt with by Sans. Roman wanted to help, but he stayed behind when Vivaldi begged him to hold her hand. No matter how much anger resided within his soul, he was still a guardian above all else. So he hugged his soul twin and smoothed her hair even as he kept a hawk-eyed glare on the door.

Although neither assassin managed to get anywhere near me or my children, the second one was enterprising enough to cut the power, which left us in the eerily quiet darkness. Without the hum of the air conditioner or the myriad of small electrical devices throughout the house, our home took on a distinctly creepy quality. It reminded me of the void, and I made the executive decision to go somewhere safer, like the castle.

But as we began to gather things, I started to second guess myself. Would the castle be too obvious? Should we go to the lab? Papyrus's house? Somewhere public? No obviously good answer was forthcoming. It was ultimately Vivaldi who came up with the most elegant solution.

"Why don't we go to the Underground?" she asked quietly as I placed monster food into various dimensional boxes. "It's warded against humans, and the entrance is protected by the castle. And the compounding doesn't work there."

It made sense. I looked at Sans, who also seemed to be reluctantly considering it. The Underground did not hold pleasant feelings for either of us, or for most of monster kind either. It was an abandoned place now, a graveyard of misery and lost hope. But Vivaldi was right. It would be safe.

"The King's Castle?" I asked. "Parts of it are still well-maintained."

"too close to the surface," said Sans. "we should try to put some distance between us and the assassins."

That ruled out the Core and Hotland. Waterfall might work, but without monsters to maintain it, the entire area had turned into a series of lakes and impassable bogs.

"snowdin?" Sans suggested hesitantly. Out of the entire Underground, Snowdin was the place Sans and Papyrus had chosen to call home. I had some very fond memories of that small town. But their old house would be dilapidated by now if there was anything left at all.

"No power," I reminded him. "We'd freeze."

That really only left one place.

"The Ruins?" Vivaldi asked. "The hole you fell through was closed long ago. We'd be safe there."

Closing the hole had been one of Toriel's first acts while on the surface. She never wanted another child to fall. Now that the Underground was empty, there would be no one down there to save them.

I looked at Sans, who nodded.

"the ruins," he agreed. "are you all packed?"

The boxes were full of food and a few supplies I'd wanted to bring along. I scanned the living room one last time, and I felt a strange wave of apprehension wash over me. It was as if I knew I'd never see this place again. It was a silly thought. I would come back tomorrow with a guard to gather up the furniture and other things. But when I turned to Sans, I could see that he felt it too.

This feeling that when we left, it would be for the last time.

I took our wedding album from the bookshelf as well as the pictures from the walls and tables.

"I'm ready," I said.

"we'll need to teleport to the castle first," said Sans, pulling me into an embrace while Roman did the same with Vivaldi. "we can't teleport across the wards, so we'll have to walk inside first."

The barrier may have been gone, but there were ragged edges where the power once stood strong. It was also warded with monster magic to keep humans out.

"Alright," I said, and the world shifted around us. Then we stood in the vast hall that overlooked Freedom Cliff and the monster city below. "Okay, we'll just—"

I was cut off by the distant and unmistakable sound of an explosion. I felt my heart clench as I looked through the windows. Far below us, I could see smoke and fire rising from a small corner of the castle grounds.

A small corner which had once contained a beautiful little cottage.

Roman and Vivaldi cried out when they saw the fire.

"We're safe," I reminded them as we watched our home burn. It was a house. It could be rebuilt. We could still start over. Even in my head, the words sounded empty. "That's the important part. Come on."

Still sniffing a bit, my children followed me into the cavernous entrance to the Underground, our new home—our new prison—until we could find a way to keep the assassins at bay. I ran a hand over my face and tried to clear away the dark thoughts. And to think, this morning my only worry was making sure I didn't fumble over my own speech.

Once we entered the King's Castle, Sans teleported us one by one to the Ruins. I took a long look at the tumbledown state of Toriel's once-pristine little house. How many times had I looked at this house and felt warmth and reassurance? Now I felt only sadness and weariness. But it was still safer than the castle and warmer than Snowdin. We'd make do with what we had.

The next day was spent repairing and cleaning out the worst of the mess. Sans teleported back and forth between the Underground and the surface to bring us supplies and to tell Mom and Dad what had happened. They were obviously concerned and angry, but there was little they could do, as no government or ruler was claiming the assassins.

Roman took responsibility for cooking us food, Vivaldi sang to fill the silence, Sans stood guard and set up puzzles, and I tried to make the house truly livable again. I spent every waking moment trying to accomplish something because standing around only invited thoughts I didn't want to consider. Like how long we all might end up living down here, or if it would be better to send my family back to the surface without me. After all, they were not the ones with death looming over their heads. I didn't want them to suffer down here if they didn't have to.

When I tried to broach the subject of them returning and only visiting me occasionally, I barely managed to get the first sentence out before Sans's blazing eye silenced my suggestion. Roman scowled into his dinner, and Vivaldi simply told me no.

That was the end of that.

The days stretched to weeks with no sign of death or humans, and we all began to relax a bit. The Underground was a lonely place, but it was secure. Roman and Vivaldi spent most of their days pouring over ragged old notebooks and discussing complex equations. I asked them about it once, but they wouldn't tell me what they were working on. I decided to leave them to it. Sans and I sometimes went for long walks through Snowdin and he refreshed all of his old snow-based puns. It was the only time the tension seemed to drain from his bones a little, and I cherished our time together. My work pulled me away so often, these weeks were the longest I'd spent with my family since Vivaldi started school. On the few occasions when I could pry my children away from their mystery project, we visited places in Waterfall to see the star gems and glowing pools. The children seemed to enjoy this new world, though there was still a feeling of dread hanging over us all.

But even here, we could not completely escape the surface. Sans brought troubling news one evening while we sat down for dinner.

"They think I'm dead?" I asked, disbelief causing me to echo Sans's statement. Sans nodded. I rubbed my forehead. "I should have seen this coming."

"don't be so hard on yourself," he said, winking. "after all, you have been living 'under a rock' these past few weeks. people take it badly when the heirs to the throne all vanish without a trace."

"I'll have to make some type of public statement," I said, prodding my food. There were risks with going public. People would ask where I was hiding, and even the Underground wasn't impenetrable. Compounding or not, there were people who would be happy to take this unrest to destabilize the monster kingdom. And it was my duty to stop that. "A press conference would work best. King's Castle. Just beyond the wards. Dad, Undyne, Papyrus, and the rest of the royal guard present. Do you think you can set something up for tomorrow?"

It was short notice, but that only meant less time for my enemies to prepare.

"You're not seriously talking about going outside of the Underground, are you?" Roman asked. "You'll be killed."

"I'll be perfectly safe with your father and Papyrus watching over me," I said, reminding him of his own heroes. Roman scowled at his plate but didn't comment.

I spent the rest of the night drafting a short speech and bouncing ideas off of Sans for a plausible explanation for our disappearance. I had no intention of telling anyone about Roman or the resets, but the explosion of my house left little doubt that someone very powerful was trying to kill me. I decided to go with the vaguest of platitudes and to deflect any invasive questions. Ultimately, the only thing they needed to know was that I was alive and well.

The next morning, I stood in the ancient throne room with Dad, Papyrus, and Sans. Mom was giving the opening speech, and Undyne was guarding the hall. The children had been told to stay in the ruins, but I knew Roman would eventually sneak out. I'd reminded him a dozen times that he needed to stay behind to protect Vivaldi, but I doubted that would keep him away for long. My daughter was not the one currently in danger.

"THE GUESTS ARE ALL SEATED," said Papyrus in his booming voice. "THE CAMERAS ARE ROLLING. HUMAN. THEY ARE READY FOR YOU."

"Thank you, Papyrus," I said, following him out of the barrier with a steadying breath. Sans and Dad took up their places on either side of me. No sooner had we stepped over the threshold than I felt something in the air, like a ripple of power or magic.

Papyrus was the first to fall, but as I reached forward to catch him, I saw Sans and Dad collapse on either side of me. Suddenly, I was standing there alone with the monsters in the audience slumped over, unconscious, and seven human men approaching me with grim expressions.

I took a step back, feeling the air where the wards should have been. Should have been…but weren't. The humans must have done something to disrupt the monster's magical powers. The Underground was no safe haven now. What was I going to do? Seven against one. Not good odds under any circumstances, but after all of these centuries, I did know how to fight.

Undyne had prevented them from bringing in guns, at least. I'd remember to thank her for that later if I survived this. I sank into a fighting pose as the men fanned out around me. Two of the flanking men lunged forward, rushing me from both sides.

They never reached me.

Bones appeared from the air, slicing through their chests and knocking them down to 0 HP. I watched their souls emerge from their bodies and fly behind me, soon followed by the others as five bone spears cut the remaining humans down in an instant. I felt a wave of dread as I turned around.

Roman stood there, looking lost and frightened and yet oddly determined. The seven souls hung in the air before him, and he held out his hands to prevent their escape.

"They…they would have killed you," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Mom. I can't watch you die again."

And then he absorbed the souls.

…

To be continued…

Note: Normally I update on Saturdays, but there may not be an update next week as I will be travelling.


	11. Surface

Small Font

Chapter 11: Surface

…

For one breathless, heart-stopping moment, I thought it hadn't worked. Roman stood there with his eyes closed and surrounded by red light. An expression of grim determination lined his face, washing away his childish features and aging him unnaturally. I held my breath, waiting.

And then…

My legs buckled beneath me, sending me to the tiled floor as the flood of magic exploded from my son. It sent a shockwave through the air, and I could no longer stand with the power bearing down on me like a thousand pounds of stone. I managed to stay on my knees for a few moments, managed to summon the will to try and rise again, but the weight increased tenfold as Roman pulled on his power, and I collapsed fully to the ground.

This was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Flowey's power had been trivial compared to this. Even Asriel, with six human souls and a thousand monster souls, would have been dwarfed by this might.

Because Roman didn't just have seven human souls. He had seven adult human souls and his own, half monster half human soul as well. I already knew of his unnaturally strong magic. I had seen him bend time by the sheer force of his Determination. No, there was no power in this world that would rival my son in this moment.

I tried to rise again, but the sum of my Determination could barely move my fingertips under the weight of his power. My vision blurred as I struggled to remain conscious, as I tried to think. Could I call out to the human souls as I had when I was a child? No, they had come to kill me, not to help. They would not answer. And I knew nothing about them, so I couldn't save them as I had my friends. I drew in a shuddering breath.

"R…Roman…" I wheezed, my voice barely more than a whisper. I doubted he could hear me. But Roman turned his black, empty eyes to me anyway. I blinked, and for a moment I wondered where my child had gone. The person standing before me was not a child. He was older, as Asriel had been when we fought. Roman wore shining black royal guard armor, a tattered red coat that looked almost like Sans's hoodie, and a familiar save point necklace. From his head sprouted two great horns, just like the King of Monsters. My eyes were drawn away by red movement. Surrounding him were translucent red Gaster Blasters, their eyes roving and their jaws slightly parted to incinerate anything Roman turned his thoughts against. This was the form he'd chosen, I realized. The Prince of Monsters. It was a blend of his heroes, of the warriors he sought to be.

I couldn't see anything of myself in him at all.

There was no sign of the pacifist or the ambassador. There was no hint of mercy.

"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice was strange, detached, and utterly void of compassion. "But it's the humans. It's always the humans. They sealed monsters in the Underground. They took you away from us for your work. They hurt Vivy. They killed you. They destroyed our home. And now…even now it's not enough. They want to take you away forever. I won't…I can't lose you again, Mom. The world would be better off without them."

I tried to speak, but I could barely breathe. The world seemed to spin beneath me as I struggled to move, to stand, to act, to do something. Anything. Roman raised his arm, and the sky went red.

"The humans will never hurt my family again," he said. "It's their turn to live in the Underground."

I let out a muffled sound of alarm. The Underground had seemed vast when I was a child, but in reality it was small. Thirty thousand monsters had lived there together, and it had been incredibly crowded, especially in the cities. If Roman did try to seal all of humanity down there, with no food or sunlight or magic to sustain them, the Underground wouldn't be a prison.

It would be a tomb.

I fought to stand, to touch his soul with my mine. I reached for my Determination. But there was nothing. I saw him begin to close his hand, and I felt a tug, like the pull of a massive magnet, and my body began to slide forward. So did every other human in the room.

The edges of my vision grew dark as the suffocating power intensified once more. I closed my eyes, my eyelids as heavy as stone.

"I will protect you, Mom."

"No!" At first, I did not recognize the voice echoing my own horrified thought. But with monumental effort, I cracked open one eye.

Huh, she looked like an angel.

She was as pale as snow, with shimmering white hair and long royal robes like the ones I wore on formal occasions. From her back sprouted red wings, and from her hair grew two small pointed horns just like Toriel's. And around her neck was a save point necklace, glowing red, siphoning off ten thousand times more power than it was designed to take.

Vivaldi.

"Vivy," said Roman, and I felt the pull of Roman's power ease. It didn't lessen the weight pinning me to the ground, but I felt my breath come a little easier. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay hidden."

"Roman, you have to stop," said Vivaldi. "Please, you cannot condemn all of humanity for the actions of a few. This is not who you are."

"They won't stop trying to kill Mom, Vivy," he said. "The only way to protect our mother is to get rid of the humans. They aren't worth saving."

"That's not true," said Vivaldi. "There are good humans."

"Really?" Roman asked, a sardonic curl on his bony lip. "Name a single one besides Mom. A human you know, who you've met and spoken to who is kind."

My heart dropped. It was one thing to look through history books and point out all of the nice, good, honorable people. It was another to know them, and my children had never had any particularly good interactions with humans.

Vivaldi wouldn't know anyone…

"Chrissy," said my daughter with unwavering certainty.

My thoughts stopped as I tried to recall a 'Chrissy'. At first I drew a blank, but the vague recollection of a duet on stage made my eyes go wide. Chrissy. Christine Pennyworth, the young girl who had played Shyren for the surface celebration play. I remembered thinking of how beautiful they had sounded together. It wasn't the unpracticed notes of two people who barely knew each other. They must have spent hours each day practicing together.

I remembered Vivaldi looking at her script, wanting nothing more than a friend. Wanting to be Vivaldi rather than just the Princess of Monsters. Roman was right, the humans had stolen me away. I'd spent their entire childhood running off to foreign lands while trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of a thousand royals, diplomats, and military commanders. I'd missed so much, sparing my family only the time between my assignments. I'd missed helping them with homework, I'd missed walking them home from school, and I'd missed meeting their new friends.

"One person," said Roman dismissively, tearing me away from my thoughts. "She was nice to us, fine. She can stay on the surface. The rest can go to their new home."

"No," said Vivaldi. "Chrissy is a good person. Mom is a good person. There are other good humans out there too. If you put them in a prison for a crime they did not commit, how are you any better than the beasts who tried to kill Mom?"

Roman scowled, and his power rippled. Vivaldi faltered in the air, clearly not accustomed to using magic. I wanted to leap up, to catch her before she fell. But I couldn't move. Then Roman was there to steady her, and just like that, his temper cooled.

"Would you rather watch Mom die?" he asked. "Over and over and over again? Like Dad did? You know there will come a time when I can't…when we can't save…" He stuttered to a halt and took a steadying breath. "Even if I am like a beast, a human, I'll do what I can to protect Mom."

He raised his hand again, the one not holding Vivaldi steady. I felt the pull of his power, and my heart sank. Then Vivaldi drifted forward and hugged her brother tightly. The power faded a little, but did not relent entirely.

"Please," she said. "Don't destroy the world Mom worked so hard to make for us. Can't you see what your power is doing to them? If you keep going, they'll die."

I felt the ripple of fear in Roman's soul as he looked at me, seeming to register for the first time what his power doing to me. Roman held his hand aloft for a long moment and then finally let it fall. The pressured eased once more, and I was able to lift my head and see my children look to me. They were crying.

"Roman," I said, still weak. "V…Vivaldi…"

And they were beside me, lifting me up. Roman's power now flowed around me like water around a stone. It was like sitting in the eye of a hurricane, intense pressure all around me, and gentle quiet within. I slumped against my children bonelessly.

"Mom…I'm sorry," said Roman, pulling me into a hug. It was strange. He was considerably bigger than me now. Both of my children were. They'd grown larger than life, easily eight or nine feet tall. I felt like a child again, as absurd as that thought was. "I'm so sorry. I just wanted…I just want to protect everyone. I didn't mean to do this. I didn't want to hurt you or…or anyone."

That was debatable, but I wasn't going to get into it now. The remorse in his voice was very real, as were his tears. I didn't think he would do this again, but later, when we'd all calmed down and fixed this…somehow. We were going to have a long discussion. And he would be grounded.

Forever.

I cast my eyes to the cameras, the ones meant to record and broadcast my press conference live around the world. And I saw that all of them were broken, shattered by the intense burst of magical energy. Well, at least I wouldn't have to explain why the Prince of Monsters was going to murder the human race via magical imprisonment beneath the earth.

I heaved a sigh.

"I know, Roman," I said, stroking the back of his skull to soothe him. "But fighting is not the answer here. We will find a way to deal with the compounding. Trust in your father. I do."

Roman nodded miserably, but then he leaned back, his eyes wide and startled.

"Wait," he said, and he lifted his bony hand to my chest. I felt him pull out my soul, still shining with magic. "It's because you don't have enough magic."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"The compounding," Vivaldi answered excitedly. "Dad could stop it because of the magic from the core. But we're on the surface. You just need more magic, a mini-Core just for you."

"No one knows how to make the Core," I said. It had been built by Doctor Gaster, who was now gone.

"We can," said Vivaldi. "Dad gave us Grandpa's notes weeks ago. I had an idea, but not enough power to test it."

Oh right, my children were geniuses. That fact still managed to slip my mind occasionally.

While I didn't particularly like the idea of being a test subject, without the protection of the Underground, I didn't have much choice. Vivaldi raised her own hand, and the threads of my soul appeared. My children shared a look and a nod, and their power flowed into me. It felt like fire, like I was running on raw caffeine, warmth and life and energy rippling through my veins, a live wire lit with magic.

When they drew back, the feeling remained, though somewhat dulled. I felt different, energized and new. I hoped this wasn't permanent or I was never sleeping again.

"It's gone," said Roman, his voice filled with wonder. "Your cause of death. It's gone!"

Vivaldi smiled, completely unsurprised that her idea had worked.

"And if we can build a new Core, we can protect the Monster Kingdom," said Vivaldi. "We have the power. Everyone will be safe."

Well, that would be wonderful, but I needed to nip this in the bud before my children got too carried away with all of the amazing things they would be able to do.

"Roman," I said firmly. "You cannot keep those souls. You must let them go."

Even if they had tried to kill me, it was wrong to enslave the soul of another person. It was this fear that had caused the war so many years ago. It was this fear that I'd spent my life trying to reassure the humans against. If Roman kept the souls, monsters would never be truly safe.

Roman looked for a moment as though he was going to argue, but Vivaldi squeezed his hand and gave him a nod. He sighed.

"I know," he said quietly. "But…not even for a little while?" I gave him a look. "Okay."

Roman and Vivaldi stood up, and I stood with them. Roman looked like a true monster, towering above me just as Vivaldi looked like an angel, the Angel of the Surface. My children. Roman held out his hands, and the seven human souls appeared. He sent them into their bodies, and I saw the humans begin to stir. It surprised me a little. I'd thought they were dead, but then I recalled Asriel returning the souls of the monsters. Roman imprisoned the humans in cages of red bone even as he shrank back to his normal childish size. The monsters and humans were beginning to stir, looking around in confusion.

Sans was suddenly at my side, his arms wrapped around me almost too tight. I sighed and leaned back against him, watching our children as they stood, hand in hand, to look up at the sky.

"are you alright?" Sans asked quietly, eyeing the imprisoned humans warily. I nodded. I would tell him the whole story when we were in private. But for now, there was a room full of monsters and humans who had come here for a press conference. I placed my hand reassuringly over his and stepped back. I would need to explain this all away, I would need to clear up any lingering issues from the assassination attempts, and I would need to talk about stepping down from my role as Ambassador. It would be an adjustment after centuries of bearing the role, but there were more important things to worry about now. My family. There were a million things to do, and once they were done, there would be a million things more. This was life, even after a happy ending. But I would do these things with a smile.

Because Sans was by my side.

Because my children were safe.

Because everything was going to be fine.

...

The End

Note: The original plan for this story was to go much farther, however, all of my evenings and weekends are now dedicated to mandatory overtime until November, possibly longer. So instead of going on hiatus until then, I decided to cap this story with a soft ending. There are so many more scenes and little story ideas I wanted to cover: sleepovers, the first kiss, Sans helping the kids with science fair projects that revolutionize the whole world, etc. But I can't dedicate the time to it right now. I may come back in the future and start updating again, but if not, this is a good place to leave off. I hope you have enjoyed Small Font. Thank you and good night!


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